On an evening in February 1992, I had just exited the "barn" (police garage). A call had been dispatched to another officer regarding a fight at a tavern. This officer was not close, so I decided to volunteer for the call, since I was only a few blocks away. Upon my arrival, I could hear and see that there was a large disturbance going on inside the tavern and I notified dispatch of this. I could also see that a woman bartender was bleeding and a large crowd had gathered around one very large male subject, who was arguing with this woman bartender. I could hear the sirens of my backup getting closer, so I went into the tavern. 

I started talking with this large intoxicated male and almost had him out the door. That was until this other bar patron decided to stick his nose where it didn't belong, and began yelling and threatening this man. Of course this intoxicated male was not going to put up with being yelled at, so he lunged at this other male and tried to hit him. My back up had arrived at this time so we advised the large male that he was under arrest, and attempted to handcuff him. We placed him on the wall to have better control of him, or so we thought. He was not cooperating with putting both his hands behind his back and was resisting arrest. At some point he suddenly pushed himself off of the wall with his one free hand. I had his arm in a compliance hold behind his back and was attempting to place the handcuff on his wrist. As he pushed off the wall, we all lost our balance and ended up falling backward. I ended up falling back onto a table, and struck the corner of this table with the lower portion of the back of my neck. In striking this table with my neck, I sustained a severe herniated disc. I was told by my doctor that I missed hitting my spinal cord by 1/8 of an inch. If that had happened, I would have been paralyzed for life. 

Because of this injury, I have had to undergo two major neck surgeries. The first being in 1992, which kept me off of work for almost a whole year. The second occurring in 1997, which eventually led to my retirement. These surgeries involved taking pieces of bone from both of my hips, and using them to fuse together two of the lower discs in my neck. The second surgery also involved wiring my vertebrae, to assist in strengthening my neck.

I will never forget the emotional pain I felt, when my physician told me I could NEVER work as a police officer again. I was crushed at this revelation, but the damage to my neck and vertebrae were so advanced, I did not have the strength or mobility that I needed to safely work the streets again. My doctor told me that the next injury to my neck could leave me paralyzed for life. I had no other choice but to leave the career I loved and retire on a medical disability.

The state of Wisconsin has a program that takes care of police officers or fire fighters that are injured in the line of duty. This program awards the officer a percentage of disability based on the severity of injury. This disability award allows the officer to receive a monthly payment based on that percent of disability. The officer receives this payment for the rest of his life....and the best thing about it........IT'S TAX FREE! 

By the way, if your wondering what the 10-42 in my sites title means I will not keep you in suspense any longer! 10-42 is a radio code that police officers use when they are ending their tour of duty. It can also mean that an officer is "out of service". So as I am currently retired from police work.........I am officially "10-42"!!! 

Humor Behind The Badge is where you can catch a story or two that may have involved myself or another, that shows the lighter side of police work.