One of the senior guys on my team left to go to another department, and since I'm being sent to the next FTO (Field Training Officer) school and since traditionally FTOs get new cars (since FTOing can be a pain in the ass and it doesn't pay any more) I got his almost-new 2000 Crown Vic as my new unit. Woohoo! Only 28K miles on it, and it doesn't make strange noises when I start it, and it doesn't die every time I come to a stop, and it doesn't have that annoying rattle on the passenger front side... It's great! One of the other guys on my team got into an accident a few weeks back (was the night of the shooting--he was rolling code 3 toward the scene and some [expletive deleted] wasn't paying attention to the lights and sirens and pulled out right in front of him..SMACK!)and has been waiting for his car to be repaired. While waiting he has either been using a pool unit (ugh!!) or using units of deputies on vacation. Well, last night after I moved my stuff into my new unit, he took my old unit for the night. About two hours later he called me on my Nextel. "This thing is a piece of SHIT!" he exclaimed. No kidding!

Later in the night, though, we got called out to a domestic disturbance in a neighborhood that's being affected by the rising river, i.e. flooded streets and yards. There are several areas in our district that are under varying depths of water this week due to the Pearl River cresting, and we were all warned by our lieutenant to NOT ruin our cars by going through water too deep. (We have a high-water truck for serious emergencies in water-logged areas.) Well, on my way to the call I scrolled through the narrative of the dispatch on my computer and saw that there was a note about the road being flooded--but the caller had assured the dispatcher that it was still passable and only a few inches deep. I get out there and sure, the water may be only a few inches deep, but it's the middle of the night, and you can't see where the road ends and the ditches begin!! Fortunately the other deputy (in my old car) had already made it to the scene, so I took my sweet time getting through that water--watching the weeds on the side of the road very carefully to keep from dropping my nice new car into a ditch. (It was actually about 6-7 inches deep. Passable, but not pleasant.) After we cleared the call, the other deputy commented that he was rather hoping he would drown the POS he was driving...LOL

Still find it a bit hard to believe that I've been here long enough and established enough of a reputation to be tapped to be an FTO. Is pretty cool. Had another bit of an ego boost last night: went to dinner at a seafood restaurant that happens to be owned by one of our detectives. Ended up eating with the detective, my lieutenant, and Mike (who is also my corporal, by the way.) At one point in the conversation the dick commented that one of their detectives in Persons (note: we have two categories of dicks--persons and property. Persons handle anything that involves a crime against a...you guessed it.. person, e.g. battery, rape, murder) had just quit with no notice. It happened to be the one female dick in persons, and there was a bit of idle speculation as to which female in the department might be tapped to fill the spot. I asked if they had to fill the spot with a female, and instantly my Lt. said, "You're not going!!" I assured her that I had no desire to go to the back for at least several more years--I like criminal patrol way too much right now--but I was flattered by the fact that my Lt. didn't want to lose me.