….and nothing but the truth

Ramesh Nyberg Traffic Control Duty: Fun for (Maybe) Three Minutes “You point directly at the person’s face,” the sergeant said, demonstrating. I was enthralled by the realization that directing traffic, something seemingly so mundane and easy – or so I thought – could have such specific science in its workings. It was 1979 and I was a recruit in Basic Law Enforcement Class #41 at the Southeast Florida Institute of Criminal Justice, better known as the police academy.Sgt. Ben Robbins…

Ramesh Nyberg One Positive Aspect of 2020… It is the year of the unprecedented. It is also the year of the unthinkable; the undesirable; and, apparently, the unmanageable.        If there is a silver lining to 2020, it is that this has laid bare the true colors of our politicians. Before you recoil in horror (Nyberg is talking politics?), let me assure you, this is not a piece about politics. I am not going to venture into those shark-infested waters to…

Ramesh Nyberg (Photo by Fred Moon) No one knows what it’s likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it’s likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only lies         “Behind Blue Eyes” – The Who Where do I start? Well, that’s easy for me this time. I must start by thanking all of you. The outpouring of support and condolences I received was incredibly touching. It was – and still is – a very difficult time…

Fear of Missing Out Ramesh Nyberg I almost didn’t write anything for this issue. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to write about; I certainly do. It was because I wasn’t sure if I really could – physically or mentally. Today is Thursday, April 30th, 2020. Four days ago, I woke up to a regular day. My wife, stepdaughter and I went out for a long walk to relieve some of the COVID-19 induced cabin fever and we took…

Ramesh Nyberg Is the grass really that much greener? The other day, I was on the Web site of my old department to look up someone’s name and I found myself looking around the site and how it was presented to the public. I decided to share my thoughts with you, my fellow brothers and sisters in blue (and brown – we wore brown uniforms and nicknamed them “the brown gown”). Let me begin by telling you that I worked…

Ramesh Nyberg Full Disclosure Okay, this is almost full disclosure. A couple of years ago, a close family member confided in me that they had taken LSD at some point in their young life. A year later, a second family member admitted the same thing. I was flabbergasted. LSD? The stuff which made Art Linkletter’s daughter jump out of a window because she was convinced she could fly? That stuff? No, I was told, this is not – in essence…

Ramesh Nyberg We Didn’t Start the Fire…             By the time you read this, the holiday season will be in full swing. So, this column focuses on reflection of the past, and thanks – yes, thanks – to our brothers and sisters in blue from the past. What they had to deal with, and how they dealt with it, is an exploration most of us don’t really know about and it has shaped what we – as law enforcement agencies…

Ramesh Nyberg Recently, I had this dream – a bad dream. Officers were getting shot with regularity. In fact, some were being hunted, ambushed and killed without even an interaction with anyone. In my nightmare, law enforcement was synonymous with racism, brutality and corruption, so much so that police became the object of cynical late night jokes. Comedians would get an easy laugh talking about some poor “person of color” being the target of a drooling, bigoted policeman.             This…

Ramesh Nyberg Hooray for Hollywood – Where You’re Terrific, if You’re Even Good… I’m not a big Hollywood guy. I like a good show every so often, but most of the stuff I see on TV and on the big screen leaves me unmoved, especially the police stuff. How often have you gotten this from your friends or new people you meet: “Oh, you’re a cop! Wow, did you see that last ‘48 Hours’? Wasn’t that crazy? What’s your favorite…

Ramesh Nyberg Old-timers and Old Guy Moments When you retire from law enforcement these days, there is usually some other occupation waiting for you on the other side. If there isn’t, there should be. I say this for two reasons: 1) It’s damn expensive to live these days and living beats the hell out of the alternative; and 2) it’s just good for you to do something. Yes, retire from your job; just don’t retire from doing things because, well…