Officer McDonald Liked Slurpees

 

In the mid to late 80s I was a Field Training Officer (FTO) on night shift for the Houston Police Department.  It was about the only time I had a partner assigned to ride with while working night shift, and then it was a rookie police officer who may or may not understand the duties associated with wearing a blue uniform.

(Image courtesy of nbclosangeles dot com)

I had a basic rule when working with these rookie police officers, their having had three weeks of riding on day shift prior to coming over to night shift for continued training.  The first week was a chance for me to see how much they’d adjusted to being a police officer and so they were passengers in the patrol car doing reports and other regular duties.  Then on their second week of training I’d go out on a limb and see if they could drive.

Enter my chance to meet Officer McDonald.  He loved that police officers were given a free soda or Slurpee at the local 7-Eleven store each night.  He had his Slurpee with him during most of the shift and didn’t think it would interfere with his duties.

During his second week riding with me I let him take the wheel as we set up to catch a red light violation at one of my favorite intersections, Long Point at Hollister.  There’s a modest incline as part of the parking lot for whatever business is located at the southwest corner.  This position relative to the intersection gave a good view of any traffic while at the same time was far enough from the intersection to allow a relaxed setting for us.

After a short while sitting atop our perch, sure enough, a vehicle driving westbound on Long Point ran the red light by a couple of car lengths, plenty enough to justify pulling the driver over and issuing a traffic ticket.

“Let’s go”, I motioned with my hand, letting McDonald know it was time to put his police driving skills to use.

“Here, hold my Slurpee”, as he pushed the drink cup in my direction.  I tossed his Slurpee out the passenger window.

“You threw my Slurpee out the window?!”  McDonald couldn’t believe I’d tossed a perfectly good Slurpee out the window.

“You’re supposed to be paying attention to the driver of the vehicle that just ran a red light, not worrying about the Slurpee and I’m supposed to be making sure you get it done safely.  You can get another Slurpee later.

I suppose there are plenty of police officers who can drive in pursuit of a traffic violator while holding a hot cup of coffee, soda or even munch on a burger; but letting a rookie develop those skills wasn’t on the list.

To be fair, Officer McDonald turned out to be a fine police officer and I’m pretty sure he made it to retirement, in spite of my having destroyed his favorite Slurpee that night.