May is here!!

Let us all hope that we’ll be blessed with a warm and gentle summer.

As I write this, our city has assumed an ignominious distinction. Over the past couple of weeks, we have moved from not reporting any cases of COVID-19 to a significant number of confirmed instances of the disease. This leads one to wonder what tomorrow will bring.

In my house, we watch the news first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Actually, we always have. Unfortunately, there is additional significance to our viewing habits these days.

I find it interesting to listen to the large number of experts expressing opinions about how to continue to battle this scourge. It is almost impossible for them not to draw comparisons among all fifty states as well as U.S. holdings and how we’re all approaching the resumption of some type of “normalcy”. Constitutional “scholars” and elected officials decry the actions of some leaders while praising others.

Some Governors have made statements that were almost clairvoyant in tenor and tone. Health experts and economists tell us of what is yet to come. Forgive my sarcasm, but if these folks think they can predict the future would they be so kind as to send me the winning lottery numbers? I need a new roof.

I guess my point has to do with the fact that human beings are quite capable of being wrong. After all, it is an acceptable condition of membership in the human race that we are not perfect, that we all make mistakes. And yet, we all expect perfection!

I may have mentioned at some point that I began my police career with the Derry Police Department. This was back in 1979/1980. For me it was the realization of a dream. I’d wanted to be a police officer since I was 5 years old. Derry Police Chief Edward Garone said “yes”. As a matter of interest, Chief Garone is officially the longest serving full-time police chief in the United States.

In those days, many police department were very suspicious of the motives of applicants who presented themselves with college degrees. I had applied to 44 police departments and was accepted by only one. In fact, the chief of one large city police department in the southern part of NH personally rejected me (after I successfully completed the entire hiring process) because I was “overqualified for the position sought”. I still have his letter.

After I began with the DPD, one of my supervisors predicted (he told me so) that I would work for the PD for two years, quit, write a book, and teach college. Well, I’ve been a cop for 40+ years, written a book (a PhD dissertation of more than 450 pages) and worked for four remarkable police departments. I’ve taught at such colleges as NHTI, New England College and Boston University. I still put on my uniform and report for work every day. By the way, that supervisor has been retired for years, is overweight, and living somewhere down south developing liver spots from too much sun. People do make mistakes.

Like all young, new-to-the-job police officers, I was originally assigned to the midnight shift. Actually, it was an incredible experience. Derry, like Franklin, has always been an active community on so many levels. I was rarely bored.

One day, as I approached the end of my shift, dispatch broadcast a BOLO (be on the lookout) for an elderly dementia patient who had walked away from one of the nursing homes in town (those were the days well before strict security measures, ankle bracelets, alarms, and the like).

We were provided with a very general description of the elderly woman. It just so happened that the nursing home was in my patrol sector so I began my search.  Please keep in mind that I was still very new to the town and police work. I had only recently graduated from the police academy.

The sun was rising. The air was warm and there was a promise of a beautiful late spring/early summer day. As I drove down one street, I noticed a gentleman standing on his porch. He was dressed in black shoes, dark navy-blue trousers and a white t-shirt. As I approached his location, I realized that the individual was, in fact, Chief Edward Garone. He had been called by the shift commander concerning the walk-away and was watching the area from his home as he prepared for work.

Just before I noticed Chief Garone, I did observe a woman walking around the side of his house. She seemed to fit the description we’d been given in a very general sense. She was also wearing an ankle length house dress.

Thinking this woman was the nursing home “escapee” I pulled over to the curb. Chief Garone asked me what I was doing. I immediately replied that I thought I had seen the elderly lady who had walked away from her nursing home and that she was in his yard.

The Chief looked at me with an incredulous stare (I’ve gotten a lot of those in my career) and said in a very authoritative voice, “That was my wife!” Needless to say, I was assigned to midnights for quite some time afterwards.

Errors are an everyday occurrence. We certainly have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes…or not. I hope I have over the years at every endeavor.

Irrespective of how this whole mess started, mistakes have been and will be made. I think it’s up to us to recognize these and contribute to fixing the problem in a positive way.

As this is written, states are beginning to change their approach to dealing with this disease. Staged openings are occurring, People will have the opportunity to re-establish some degree of personal contact.

We, at the local level, are happy to work with everyone in an effort to regain some traction. We still meet and discuss what should be done in order to protect everyone. We listen to the best and brightest and make every attempt to adopt the best suggestions, all the while knowing we may be wrong in some instances.

I am convinced that these challenges will be overcome by rational, cooperative thought and deed. I also believe that our leaders are working toward this end. Let’s work together to keep Franklin in the forefront of all that’s positive.                                                                             

After the Marathon Bombing, the Superintendent-in-Chief of the Boston Police Department told the NH Chiefs of Police Association that there was no manual for handling such an occurrence. It was written as the problem was solved.

We are writing a new manual right now. Don’t be afraid to contribute. Don’t be afraid to listen to good suggestions. Don’t be afraid to be careful as we negotiate uncharted waters. I have no doubt we will be that much better and that much stronger in the long run.

In the meantime, and before you say or do anything, try your best to be sure of just who is walking around the corner.

Be safe!