by Ramesh Nyberg Spending the Hours Reminiscing There are times when one is reminded of days gone by and it’s poignant, or wistful, or just plain “those were the days.” Three things have recently brought me back down memory lane, specifically to the decade of the 1980s, and I was reminded of life in South Florida during that time. I should preface this by telling you that, though I have visited many places around the country and the world, I…
RAMESH NYBERG Making a Difference This column is dedicated to the victims and families of the Surfside, Florida, condo collapse. Is it weird what I’m feeling? Here I am in Boston with my wife on vacation, enjoying time with my son, his wife and my 18-month-old grandson, and I suddenly have an urge to be in Surfside, picking through rubble and recovering victims of this disastrous building collapse. They say that police work “gets in your blood” and never goes…
RAMESH NYBERG What Happened to Antonio? November 30th of this year will mark 15 years since I retired. On that day, someone said something you’ve probably all heard before: “You never get police work out of your blood.”I scoffed. You think I miss getting called out in the middle of the night for a dead crack dealer? Do you think I miss my uniform days, getting shot at, bricks and bottles thrown at me, and getting called every name in…
Ramesh Nyberg “Thank you, but…” This column is dedicated to the memories of Officer Brian Sicknick, Officer Jeffrey Smith and Officer Howard Liebengood. Rest in peace, brave warriors. Nightmare scenario, perfect storm…whatever phrase you want to ascribe to January 6th, 2021, it probably doesn’t suffice in expressing the trauma, fear, stress, and downright desperation our brothers and sisters in blue suffered at the hands of the raging, violent mob which attacked our capitol building that day. It was the ultimate…
Ramesh Nyberg “I am the eye in the sky, looking at you…” – Alan Parsons, 1982 The old “Adventures of Superman” TV show started with, “Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird…it’s a plane…no, it’s…” …Officer Friendly! It is? Yes! I’m not talking about a police officer wearing a cape. I’m speaking about unmanned aerial systems, better known as “drones.” Quadcopters (as they are also called) have become more than just wondrous playthings for retired cops who write for…
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…