I am kinda mad

[constable]

I was hopin to get an opinion from members with actualy Police experience/

I am a Police Officer in Ontario Canada with 3 months on the job. I am now alone and drivin in my own car as Ijust finished with a Probationary Officer,
Well, 2 nights ago, I pulled over a car and ended up etting a Impaired Driver out of it, a rookie mistake i made I forgot to search the vehicle, so I lodge the guy ito cells, and I was on my way to search the vehicle afterwards, I decided to let another officer go as we did not have enough guys on to Guard the Prisoner, The search turned up one of the biggest Drug Seizurs in a about 5 years here, the reaosn I am anry is because I absolutley feel that it should be considerewd my Bust as I yanked the car over. The officer who I asked to search the vehicle spotted the drugs under the drivers side seat, one of the firsat places I always look, he is trying to take all the credit for it, as this is making me mad,

I know it is always a team effort and I do understand that, but I feel that he should not take credit for something he never did,

Am I wrong or how do u feel about it?

[mcsap]

If YOU didn't find it and he DID, it is HIS find. To be fair , you deserve an "atta boy" for getting the stop but the person who actually makes the find is what counts in the end. One could say that you "missed" the drugs or simply failed to do a search.

One good thing about this kind of mistake is that nobody got hurt as a result. ( not counting your pride)

[hwpd]

yeah... like MCSAP said you stopped the vehicle, but he was the one who found the drugs.

[K9Cop]

I gotta disagree maybe I'm just ol' school.....If an officer asks me to assist on a search of a vehicle that he initiated a traffic stop on - then whatever is found is his for the glory and the report writing. I would hope that I and my partner would be mentioned in the report as assisting officers and I of course would do a supplemental report as well as sign the chain of custody forms. I definitely believe in the team effort mindset. If everytime my K-9 indicated on a vehicle and we took the credit/bust from the officer who initiated the traffic stop - I don't think we'd have to many officers requesting our assistance for narcotic searches which could lead to more drugs getting through and an officer safety issue. As long as I can log in my K-9 records that my partner indicated correctly and located source of odor....I'm happy.....that's about all the glory we need.

[Pharley]

Who cares who gets the credit, many drugs are off the street b/c of your efforts. This profession you will have many many days pass with no recognition- we are all working towards the same cause. You know you played a huge part in the seizure- if you need someone telling you nice job, and patting your back- you're probably in the wrong field, b/c many days of blood, sweat, and tears with no recognition lie ahead.

[FPS207]

Couldn't have put it any better myself. As Pharley said, most of this profession is not being recognized for a majority of what we do. However when you begin getting recognition for the things that you do for people, from the people themselves, you appreciate it so much more.

[K9Cop]

failed to mention in my last post - Congrats Constable on the bust!!!!!!!!

[TheGodFather21]

I think you should feel great for getting the drugs off the streets. We all learn from our rookie mistakes and you still have your whole career ahead of you to bust more dope dealers.You pulled over the car and another officer found the dope...it is a team effort.

[constable]

There is a misconception here perhaps, My Partner who was on duty with me that night was gone not even part of the stop, i was alone, I asked him to go back, cause IO felt like I should watch the bad guy, thats all, as a rookie, I think it is important to get recognized to build confidence.

I honestly feel this is my shining moment

[K9Cop]

Hmmmmmmm now I'm really confused with your comment about how getting recognized builds confidence. If I get props for doing something from whoever...it makes me feel good and may enhance my motivation level to continue to succeed, but I can't recall that it has ever given me confidence. In my opinion confidence comes from within - through training, knowledge of the subject matter, experience etc.

As for it being your shining moment - granted three months on the job and you were a part of a team that made one of the largest drug seizures in your area in about five years is something to be proud of but hopefully it will not be the end all, be all of your career. Tomorrow is another day.....

[Altai]

If I were you, I'd let this one go...and maybe the next one too. Make a reputation for yourself by taking this like a mature adult. Maybe your partner should let you take credit for the seizure, but that's up to him. Just be glad that those drugs aren't being sold to kids. That's my motive for wanting to be a cop. Don't value yourself through what others think of you, but through the things you accomplish every day. But I am only seventeen so what I say doesn't mean much right?

[Oldbillplod]

As far as I am concerned, he should take the credit, he searched the vehicle not you. If you both failed to search the vehicle and subsequently got into trouble for it would you then take all the blame or would you say it was his fault as you asked him to search it as you couldnt leave your prisoner.
You are new, these things happen, move on.
I'm also guessing you will do it 100% correct the next time, and then it will be your turn to take the glory.

[DeputyMadMax]

I see it both ways.

If he was on the stop with you, the credit should go to you for making the stop.

However, you left the scene, and had your chance to search it. You asked him to go back and search it for you when he found the dope. In this case I think the credit should go to him.

There are two important things here.

1. Dope is off the street regardless who found it.

2. You are new and made a mistake, and I'm sure you will never make this same mistake again. Learn from it and move on. There will be more busts.

[Scruit]

I'm not sure what he could have done differently, except have the other officer watch the prisoner while he searched the car himself. It would have been worse if there had been an incident caused/allowed by a poorly guarded prisoner...

[rdp]

You need to let it go.....

You are going to have glory hounds no matter where you work. They love to take credit for good things and say what they did trying to take credit even though they did very little.

Some guy looking under a seat is not a great find. He did nothing but go off of your actions.

We are a team. Your stop and subsequent arrest gave you the ability to go in the car.....all because he shows up and sticks his head under the seat shouldn't give him credit for the entire incident. If he thinks he is the hero, then there is no reason for you to go to court since he thinks he did everything