Subj : RE: A Sad Encounter
To   : Barry Martin
From : Mike Dippel
Date : Sun Jul 20 2025 13:36:24

On 7/19/2025 7:13 AM, Barry Martin wrote to Mike Dippel:

-> Hi Mike!
-> 
->  MD> I'm not sure this fits the criteria of this category, but here
->  MD> goes.  It deals with mental health issues.
-> 
-> Sounds like it fits quite comfortably in the category of Psychology.
-> 
->  MD> Back in April, 1979 I was a Detroit Police Officer working a 2
-> 
-> The good news is you and your partner were there to try to help.  The 
-> bad news is he did jump, which of course affected the lives of his
-> family and friends as well as you.  As you commented perhaps if he had 
-> not died he could have been in and out of mental facilities.  The wife 
-> and daughter would have had a husband and father, perhaps a good one, 
-> perhaps an abusive one.  We'll never know, we hope for the best and 
-> prepare for the worst.
-> 

Well said.

->  MD> Mike Dippel
->  MD> D.P.D. 1977-1979, when I was put on indefinite layoff status
->  MD> along with 1,000 other officers.
-> 
-> Definitely as tangential comments: was that due to the financial
-> problems Detroit had?  About that time I was completing college and had
-> my nose in the books.

The funds that they used to be able to hire roughly 1000 officers ran out after 2 years.

-> 
-> Another comment is I think it is better to have a squad car with two
-> officers as opposed to just one.  One can drive and look out for
-> obstacles, the other can give directions to follow the suspect plus a 
-> second set of eyes.  Second one can also be on the radio.  At the scene
-> those suspects seem to become the Incredible Hulk and a lone officer has
-> quite a struggle.

True, but I then did a 21 year stint as a Fort Lauderdale officer in a solo vehicle.  It 
actually puts more eyes on the road to do it as a solo vehicle, and backup isn't that far 
away.  If the situation calls for it, 2 solo vehicles are dispatched.  If the situation 
demanded, one officer would wait for the other to arrive before they both move in 
together.

One thing you have to do in bad situations is to be as calm as possible so as not to have 
to try and be the Incredible Hulk.  You can turn into the Hulk once backup arrives :)

Mike Dippel
 
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