Today I had to arrest a young lady that I have watched grow up. Her paternal grandmother, and the young lady's mother and I have all been friends for years. I know other members of her family as well, and have been on good terms with all of them through the years, even the outlaws in her family.
She walks in to report to the County Probation Officer. About oh, three or four weeks ago I remember getting a phone call to be on the lookout for her, that she had court that week, and that she had a VOP warrant, but she didn't show up(she has a private attorney that shows in court for her, at that time), so I thought no more of it. And truthfully, I am not working the streets anymore, so I really do not think about it.
Then today, right after lunch, she comes in, greets me and gives me a hug just as she has always done, and tells me why she is there and where she is going. Still not remembering that she had a warrant, I let her proceed to her destination. After she arrived there, it dawned on me that I needed to check that out because I remembered about the warrant. I then called dispatch, they confirmed the warrant, but needed to be sure that the other countyy(it was an out-of-county warrant). I waited, and waited, and waited, and then here she comes walking down the hallway. Just as she is giving me a good-bye hug dispatch calls me on the radio(which she could not hear because I wear one of the "Secret Service" style earbuds while I'm st work)and confirms that the other county will extradite. So then I have to tell her that she can't leave, because she has an out-of-county warrant. She looked at me like I was joking with her. "Really?" Then I guess the look on my face betrayed me, and she knew I was serious. So then I had to take her to the holding cell and wait for transport to arrive. When it arrived we walked outside and I turned her over to his custody. She got in the back of the car, and then she looked at me and told me "I ain't mad at you, Mr. Sam. You always been honest with everybody in my family. You're just doing your job. It's okay".
While it's nice to know that she understands and respects my position, it still doesn't make it any easier. I watched that little girl and her brother grow up.
Retirement just can't get here quick enough.
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