Falling Asleep on Duty

[Turbinator]

The look of utter fright on his face was priceless as he tried in vain to open his door and jump to safety. The trains light was squarely on him as it roared past. He was so frightened he actually pissed his pants.


Needless to say he NEVER fell asleep again.

No one commented on this. This story is just awesome! Thanks for sharing it.

Turby

[emilio]

The look of utter fright on his face was priceless as he tried in vain to open his door and jump to safety. The trains light was squarely on him as it roared past. He was so frightened he actually pissed his pants.

that's at least 3 kinds of awesome! very clever, dude.

i'm not a LEO, but i did hear a funny urban legend about SJPD: there was a shady spot that was just a dirt lot under a freeway or train overpass. cops would park there to fill out paperwork, eat, BS, or take naps (on duty or on break) because no one ever was in the area but bums. some troublemaker, anarcho-skater or something, literally spiked the area so that the next time the posse rolled down for the sewing bee they had to call motor pool because several cars' tires magically went flat... if it's true, i wonder how they explained being there in the first place!

- emilio

[Fire in the Hole]

I've got no problem with cops taking their lunch break. It just bugs me when there's 14 police cars in the parking lot and everyone is hanging out for 2+ hours.

They're all worn out from popping hoods, writing tinted windows citations, and setting up speed traps to generate revenue.

[retired]

Back in the day when I was a cop pup working midnights in the quietest neighborhood in the universe we had a practice called "cooping." There were areas where we could park the unit that provided natural camouflage (the coop) and would take turns napping / listening to the radio. This was WAYYYY before the days of GPS or radio tranmitted location detection.

I've heard tell of a similar practice, but it was called "caving." Now, of course, these were just rumors and I don't anything about it other than those rumors.

Gosh, I really, really, really hated EMs. Did I mention that I really hated EMs.

[Suvorov]

Ahh, the stories I could tell about falling asleep on duty.....

Of course I'm not a cop but lets just say my occupation is RIPE with sleep deprivation issues.

Back in the days, I flew part 135 cargo operations (mostly bank work), days were long and the nights were longer. When you are up there by yourself with nothing but the soothing drone of your Pratt and Whitney turboprops to keep you company, it is awful hard to stay awake no matter how much coffee you have coursing through your veins. Luckily for me, I only nodded off a time or two and came too quickly afterwards (generally the adrenaline dump that occurred when I realized I almost killed myself was enough to keep me awake the rest of the flight), others weren't so lucky. Back in '04, one of our pilots fell asleep and flew his plane right into the side of a mountain in the Owens Valley on a perfectly clear and calm morning killing the pilot (who had just returned from leave to witness the birth of his son). Things are better in the airline world, but it still happens to crews. At least now, I got someone else with me to keep me company or at the very least, wake me up if I drift off (that is, if they don't fall asleep as well). Now that the cockpits are secure, our flight attendant can't come in and wake us up anymore if she can't get hold of us on the interphone. Mesa Airlines had a crew fall asleep on the way into Honolulu a year or so ago and just flew out to sea. Luckily ATC (or the Interceptor that was sent to check on them - can't recall for sure) was able to wake them up and they had enough fuel to get back to land. Of course Mesa is a crap operation that treats its pilots like dog crap, but they are cheep and as long as the cheapest fair is the driving force in the industry, management will continue to think that 4-5 hours of sleep is more than enough after a 16 hour duty day and put all you gentle passengers at risk - but what the hell, you got your SFO-LAX ticket for only $25, what a bargain!

[retired]

Thanks Suvorov, remind me never to fly again, especially on the cheap airlines.

[SkyStorm82]

Ahh, the stories I could tell about falling asleep on duty.....

Of course I'm not a cop but lets just say my occupation is RIPE with sleep deprivation issues.

Back in the days, I flew part 135 cargo operations (mostly bank work), days were long and the nights were longer. When you are up there by yourself with nothing but the soothing drone of your Pratt and Whitney turboprops to keep you company, it is awful hard to stay awake no matter how much coffee you have coursing through your veins. Luckily for me, I only nodded off a time or two and came too quickly afterwards (generally the adrenaline dump that occurred when I realized I almost killed myself was enough to keep me awake the rest of the flight), others weren't so lucky. Back in '04, one of our pilots fell asleep and flew his plane right into the side of a mountain in the Owens Valley on a perfectly clear and calm morning killing the pilot (who had just returned from leave to witness the birth of his son). Things are better in the airline world, but it still happens to crews. At least now, I got someone else with me to keep me company or at the very least, wake me up if I drift off (that is, if they don't fall asleep as well). Now that the cockpits are secure, our flight attendant can't come in and wake us up anymore if she can't get hold of us on the interphone. Mesa Airlines had a crew fall asleep on the way into Honolulu a year or so ago and just flew out to sea. Luckily ATC (or the Interceptor that was sent to check on them - can't recall for sure) was able to wake them up and they had enough fuel to get back to land. Of course Mesa is a crap operation that treats its pilots like dog crap, but they are cheep and as long as the cheapest fair is the driving force in the industry, management will continue to think that 4-5 hours of sleep is more than enough after a 16 hour duty day and put all you gentle passengers at risk - but what the hell, you got your SFO-LAX ticket for only $25, what a bargain!

I'm never flying again....

[anthonyca]

Non LEO here.

I am friends with a retired cop and he told me some good stories. One was about two officers who found a good place to nap in a area or yard where trucks used to pick up and drop off trailers. They parked between two 53 foot trailers that were backed up to a wall. Their car was backed in by the wheels of the truck so it was hard to see. Some trucker thought it would be funny to park a trailer across the only opening and take off. (or most likely watch from a distance) After waking up they finally realized that they had to call in and report why they could not respond.

Another story was about an officer who would go into the office of someone very important. I can not remember who's office it was though but it was someone important enough it really made the story. He used to work OT all the time and my friend used to think man, how can this guy work so much OT? Well he awoke one night while putting on his belt to the cleaning people opening the door.

I used to fall asleep sometimes in the Army on graveyard so I can see how it can happen. These stories are not the same as you other guys just konking out on accident.

[jafount]

I've got no problem with cops taking their lunch break. It just bugs me when there's 14 police cars in the parking lot and everyone is hanging out for 2+ hours.

14 cars? Somehow I doubt this.

Before I went to the Bay Area, I worked for a rinky dink nor-cal city. I was the only one on for graveyard some nights and worked 12 hour shifts.

I was on the last night of my four day (three on four off four on three off) and was lucky enough to have traffic court earlier that day. After going OD at 0700, getting home and asleep by 0800, back up at 1000 for an 1100 court time which ended up not happening until after the lunch break at 1330 I was running on fumes.

Anyhow, I'm back 10-8 at 1900. It was a busy night early on for the middle of the week. By 0430 or so, I was sitting in a new cul de sac for a new golf course community that was under construction and caught up on all my paper. It was freezing cold outside. The heater was going and I was dog tired. Out of habit, when I parked to cut paper, I would routinely crank the radio so, in the event of a call, I was sure to be startled by it. Anyway, last think I remember was it being 0430.

Dispatch welfare checked me and my eyes snapped open and it was sunny out. Car was still idling. It was toasty warm inside. I grabbed the mic and said "code four ten eight". I gathered myself for a moment threw the car in drive and just as I crested this little hill right in front of me, here comes a citizen out for his morning walk. Man...if dispatch hadn't welfare checked me, I'd have been pinched. Of course, I've always wondered if maybe another citizen had already pinched me and called, resulting in the welfare check! I figured heck with it....don't ask don't tell!

[Keith92555]

And THIS is why I hated going into food establishments...of ANY kind...

The only time I walked into a donut shop while on duty was at 3 in the morning to get coffee and some cigarettes...and even then I would stake the place out to make sure no one was around.

Whenever I was picking up food, I would look at people and know EXACTLY what they were thinking...

And I will admit...I ate a donut once while on duty...but I made sure I was in the station where no one could see me

[frigginchi]

It's all fun and games till...

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_12524065

Sleep safely...

[TRICKSTER]

14 cars? Somehow I doubt this.

Been there, seen that. Back in the 80's there was a 24 hour restaurant at the Travel Lodge Hotel near the Oakland Airport. Pull in about 0300 and between OPD, Housing Authority PD, CHP, State PD, EBRPPD, ACSO, and BARTPD there would easily be 14 cars.

[jafount]

ok but thats seven agencies or two guys per agency at 0300. Not an issue. The San Jose thing doesn't indicate graves.

Besides, you're either patrolling or sitting somewhere. Why does it matter if you're sitting somewhere where there is life happening? It's all the same.