From Community Police Team Officer Todd Wiebke: ‘He had plastic bags wrapped around his shoes …’

[WSB]

(Offered by SPD on behalf of Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officer Todd Wiebke, also cross-posted on social media … see editor’s note at the end)

“… he was covered with the evening news … had an old pair of wool socks on his hands…Craig Morgan 2003. This is one of my favorite country songs.

A friend pointed out that it has been awhile since I wrote. I tried to say that I was out of stamps, but she saw through that right away. The truth is I am just tired. I laughed the first time I saw the beer commercial that advertised, “To the misery! Dilly Dilly!!” Then it hit me, that this is where I indeed go, everyday, dilly dilly.

I get a bunch of emails from my neighbors telling me about the return of the motorhomes, or the new tent, or the lady in the car. And I say THANK YOU. Thank you for the email, thank you for the patience, thank you for the opportunity. I cannot fix every situation, sometimes I make no difference at all. But I will always take my at bat.

This week I dealt with crisis, with narcotics, with heartache, and with liars. Sometimes all at once, sometimes one at a time.

I am helpless to unlock the doors when dealing with a person trapped in a horror inside of their own mind. Lord, I try, but I am a limited man with just a little skill. I wish we could solve this one aspect of the conflagration.

I dealt with heroin, and meth…again and again and again. It is what it is. I have two young ladies that have proudly kicked the needle. I am there for them when they need me. I think they are going to make it out of the woods.

I met with heartache. I stopped the world, stepped into a quiet place with this man, and shared what I could. You see, police deal with tragedy all of the time, we don’t get called to the good times. I finally figured out how to talk to people about it, most of us never do. I again emptied out my wallet because this man needed coffee and breakfast a lot more than I did. I am a rich man, I should do more.

I dealt with a liar. I won’t go into details, but it looked like I was being a mean cop with no heart. Be careful of what you think you are seeing. I have my cameras on, I stand open for review, and I stand behind my decisions if and when I need to take action.

And so we continue. A little smarter, a little more worn, a little more tired. Reserve your judgment of others, but trust it when you think you should call 911. We are kind of awesome and would love to help.

I still love coming to work. We have an awesome city with the ability to adapt and overcome. The only way to lose is to not try. We are trying to solve this crisis, and we will not lose. We are open 24/7/365. We still make house calls. Call us when you need us. Email us when you need to. Say Hi and wave when we look grumpy…we need a smile sometimes too.

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(Editor’s note: If you aren’t already familiar with Officer Wiebke, he is the CPT’s point person on issues related to people experiencing homelessness. Especially in areas such as Myers Way. You can reach him at todd.wiebke@seattle.gov)

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