A Look Back: 10-4, whats your 20?

After graduating undergrad and starting med school I took almost six years off from formal education. I spent 3 of those years  wearing a badge and a bulletproof vest, which invariably is a recipe for disaster a few stories, so I figured this is a good a time as any to tell one or two.

Just a little background to start…

My undergrad university was one of these especially large campuses, essentially taking up the whole town with its own infrastructure. Part of this infrastructure included having its own police force (despite the town already having one) and for three years after graduating I was a member of this department. The department had several divisions, 1) Streets 2) Campus 3) Housing 4) Hospital

The first group were full-fledged police officers, and the last three would best be described as security-police. Without going into the details, being security police means being significantly more than a rent-a-cop, but with about half the police powers. I was a part of the hospital division and this is really what rekindled (along with Mrs ERJ’s prodding) my interest in going to medical school. Hopefully the reasons why will become clear over the next few posts.

In a city with 114,000 residents, plus 40,000 students, oddly, the hospital had the highest rate of crime per square foot of any location in the city and the things that happened at the hospital, were at times… unbelievable.  Stealing candy from babies, murder, prostitution, statutory rape, undercover stings, larceny on an epic scale, gang fights, and of course drug use and selling.

If noting else, it makes for a good story. Stay tuned.