The Police Files

[emmitt01]

First off, let me say I am really torn about bringing these stories back. On one hand it's really fun for me, and a bit cathartic, to provide a glimpse into what I get to go through eight hours a day. On the other hand this little foray into storytelling is only back because I had to give up a three year love affair with working undercover...alas, them's the breaks of promoting. I really hope that these stories are an enjoyable read and provide a little perspective for the next time you watch one of my least favorite TV shows (CSI, Southland, Rookie Blue, etc). I just think someone should offer the other side of the "reality" cop show coin. And let me also take the time to throw something out there. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR OPINION OF DRUG LAWS, TRAFFIC LAWS, THE COURT SYSTEM OR ANYTHING ELSE POLICE RELATED IS. THIS ISN'T A FORUM TO AIR YOUR OPINIONS OF JUSTICE. IF IT DETERIORATES TO THAT THEN I'LL JUST STOP SHARING. So, without further adieu I bring you (back) The Police Files.

Three years and four months ago when I was selected to be a narcotics detective I was about as excited as I have ever been professionally. I've always been of the opinion that most real crime starts, ends or can be linked to drugs in some way.

So, I walked into the narcotics division office with a smile on my face and pep in my step........and a boatload of naivety! I learned DAY ONE that watching Boyz in the Hood or listening to hip hop does not make you ready to buy dope in Dallas. Apparently a college educated guy from the mean streets of Denton, Texas doesn't walk, talk, dress or act like the people who live in "the hood". My training detective (who I came to be good friends with) had his work cut out for him.

The first day in the field we went to do my "confidence buy". A confidence buy is basically the simplest, safest dope deal you can find just to prove that someone is capable of buying dope. My trainer drove up to a guy standing in the street, asked him for a twenty sack of green, looked at me until I got the clue to hand the guy twenty bucks, and drove off. Confidence buy over. I had close to zero interaction during this deal and it lasted ten whole seconds...yet it sticks out in my mind to this day because the act of buying drugs was just that new to me. I spent the rest of the day typing a bunch of paperwork I would come to be able to do in my sleep.

The next day in the field it was announced to me that I was going to learn how to type a search warrant. "No problem" I figured. I've always been good at paperwork and I'm pretty computer savvy. This, of course, is when I learned that typing this search warrant would require me to actually walk up to said house and buy dope from there. I was excited!!! We drove to a section of Oak Cliff I had never seen before, found the house that a citizen had complained about for selling marijuana, and pulled into the driveway. And this is when the excitement gave way to that feeling you get when you're on the roller coaster and it has just reached the top of that first drop..."Oh shit, there's no turning back and I'm really doing this." So I got out of the car and started to walk toward the front door. My trainer honked the horn to get my attention and then pointed toward the back. The back door? But I can't see back there. And I'll be all alone. Yep, I was about to earn that Detective badge. This wasn't buying weed just off of Fry street. So I walked to the back to knock on the door. And the door had a cage around the back porch. Now I don't know if you've ever been in a shark cage, so if you haven't let me explain. You open an iron door and step into a metal box. The whole thing is lag bolted into the conrete porch you're standing on and into the house itself. Somehow, and I don't know how, the door (as it did on this day) inevitably finds a way to use momentum to close itself behind you. And that door you just walked through was left unlocked for a reason. It's so that buyers can easily get themselves in...but not out. You see, once you knock on the actual back door the guy behind it will instruct you to close that rear cage door, effectively locking you in until the transaction is completed. So there I stood, locked inside this cage, and speaking to a guy whose first words were "who are you?". Who are you is a simple enough question...unless you're stuttering. Somehow the sentence "Man, they just told me I could come here to get some green...I need a couple dubs" takes about a minute to say when you're scared. Luckily the question of "Who is 'they'?" wasn't asked cuz I would've looked like this... I got my forty dollars worth of weed and walk/ran back to the car after I was allowed to exit. I typed up that warrant and we hit the house. We got a couple ounces of weed...one arrest...and two guns. My first ever warrant was served.

Now since then I've placed numerous people in both federal and state prison for after investigations of varying lengths...and I'll talk about them as we go...but much like another imporant milestone in your life, "You never forget your first time."

[GreenBat]

GOOD STUFF. Glad the police files are back!

[Green Crazy]

Good stuff! Thanks for everything you do!

[Rudy]

And the door had a cage around the back porch. Now I don't know if you've ever been in a shark cage, so if you haven't let me explain. You open an iron door and step into a metal box. The whole thing is lag bolted into the conrete porch you're standing on and into the house itself. Somehow, and I don't know how, the door (as it did on this day) inevitably finds a way to use momentum to close itself behind you. And that door you just walked through was left unlocked for a reason. It's so that buyers can easily get themselves in...but not out. You see, once you knock on the actual back door the guy behind it will instruct you to close that rear cage door, effectively locking you in until the transaction is completed.

Dang, I didn't know dope houses were so complicated there. In my hood they just have...trailers.

[oldguystudent]

Setup like that, I'm kinda surprised you only got a couple ounces. I was waiting to read how you walked in on a hydroponics farm or something.

[Coffee and TV]

Share the wealth, bro. Share the wealth.

[Green P1]

No one should ever need a sack of swag bad enough to put themselves in that kind of situation.

[greenminer]

So when do I see cages on Fry?

[VideoEagle]

Great stuff! Someone please give Emmit an extra plus 1 as my fat fingers on an iPad hit the minus by mistake!

[stebo]

Great story! Can't wait to read more. Fitting story for 4/20!

[FloMoGrad]

Setup like that, I'm kinda surprised you only got a couple ounces. I was waiting to read how you walked in on a hydroponics farm or something.

Got to seperate the manufacturing from the distribution for liability reasons, I would assume of course.

That my friends is the trap house.

Keep it coming Emmitt, love it.