LAPD Wife

American Heroes Air Show

The American Heroes Air Show is returning again to Los Angeles this weekend on July 11, as high-tech helicopter, aerial demonstrations and a Code3 Careere Fair come to Lake View Terrace for a fun day full of excitement for the whole family.

All day Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be live entertainment, aerial demonstrations, emergency preparedness exhibits and a public safety career fair highlighting the event honoring the men and women in uniform and civilian volunteers who save lives and safeguard Southern California communities every day.

“It’s a personal privilege to work with the City of Los Angeles to host such an exciting display of the very best of rotary-wing aviation,” said Jim Paules, the event’s founder and volunteer executive producer. “Since our first event in 1993 the American Heroes Air Show has presented Southern California residents with a unique opportunity to learn about these amazing aircraft and pay tribute to those who maintain and fly them in service to our city, our state and our nation.”

Visitors are encouraged to arrive early for the “Rollin’ to the Rescue” caravan of vintage fire, police and emergency service vehicles scheduled to arrive at 9:30 a.m. Nearly 40 rare and beautifully restored vehicles will arrive along Foothill Boulevard in a blaze of CODE 3 lights and sirens and remain on static display throughout the day.

The event’s high-flying opening ceremony commences at 11 a.m. honoring the many heroes of public service in attendance. The Golden Stars Skydiving Team, an official goodwill representative of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, will launch the day’s aerial demonstrations at 11:30 a.m. Soaring above the crowd, the Golden Stars team will fill the sky with smoke, spinning canopies and streamers as they perform precision maneuvers. As the skydivers spiral down, they will display U.S. and POW / MIA flags overhead.

The L.A. City Fire Department’s Air Operations Unit also will welcome guests with their traditional red, white and blue heritage water drop, followed by a helicopter formation flyover. More than 25 military and civilian helicopters are expected for static display, including the U.S. Air Force Pavehawk, a heavily-armed, high-tech version of the Blackhawk helicopter used by combat search and rescue teams to recover U.S. military personnel who have gone down behind enemy lines and inside denied areas of operation.

Other featured aircraft include the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sikorsky H-3 Sea King used for high altitude and swift water rescue, emergency medivac and tactical resources movement operations; the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrives in their Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego will attend in their HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter used for search and rescue, drug interdiction in addition to a wide variety of other helicopters used by fire protection, law enforcement, homeland security, national defense and news reporting agencies.

The day will also include the CODE3 Career Fair with recruiting teams on hand from many of the premier local, Federal and state law enforcement organizations to offer information on entry criteria, hiring practices and job opportunities in the growing field of criminal justice and law enforcement.

Local colleges and universities will also be on-scene with information on their criminal justice and emergency preparedness curriculum so guests can learn more about training options and classes that will put them on the path to reliable careers in public safety.

The American Heroes Air Show’s main entrance is located at 11480 Foothill Blvd. in Lake View Terrace near the intersection of the 210 and 118 Freeways. Event admission and parking are free For additional event information, visit www.heroes-airshow.com.

New Blog for LAPD

There's a new blog for keeping up to date with news and goings-ons with the LAPD and in Southern California - the LAPPL Official Blog. LAPPL Directors and other public safety experts will be regularly posting items at the blog.

"The goal of the blog is to provide insight into law enforcement from a police officer's perspective," said Paul M. Weber, LAPPL President, in a recent email to Protective League members. "As officers, we want Los Angeles residents to know the challenges we face in policing the city. At the same time, we want residents to share their perspective on public safety issues with us, hopefully resulting in a lively and constructive forum."

So far they are off to a good start. I've been impressed with the League's efforts recently to improve communications betwee both them and their constituents, the rank and file of the LAPD, and between them and the general public. I follow their Twitter account, receive their email updates and have now bookmarked this blog. I know, I know, we are all so busy that it's hard to put one more item  on our daily checklist. This is true for me, which is why I find the email updates invaluable. Information is power - plus it's nice to be already up to speed when my husband comes home talking about the latest tactical-alert or a comment Chief Bratton made in the press.   

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday today. Jake is actually home and we've been having a great time all week planning the perfect day off with Daddy. At least this year I don't have to worry about Jake getting hit by bullets fired by people celebrating in their own insanely dangerous way during public fireworks celebrations.

Enjoy your day, have fun and be safe. And for those whose spouses or parents are on duty for Independence Day, save the sparklers for another day and bring out the red, white and blue for them with a day-after celebration. After all, it's not about a date on the calendar, it's about celebrating and honoring our country, past and present, and the wonders around us here in the United States.

LAPD Deployment for Michael Jackson funeral

KFI NEWS has confirmed the LAPD is planning a massive deployment of officers for Michael Jackson's funeral and memorial set for next Tuesday that -- according to some department insiders -- will hamper daily police work and stretch staffing to dangerously low levels.

More than 1,400 officers -- two shifts of at least 30 officers plus 3 supervisors from each of the department's 25 patrol stations -- have been asked to volunteer for Jacko duty on Monday and Tuesday, according to officers at several stations and a senior department official. All of them will be on overtime. No one has figured out exactly what that will cost taxpayers.

** Jake is not planning on volunteering at this point. Talk about a crazy detail to work...

Cookie Patrol

How cute is this cookie? Jake brought it home from work awhile ago. This cookie shall never be eaten...

Farmers Market Report

We love farmers markets. I try to go at least once a week from late spring until late Fall - luckily where we live there are farmers markets everywhere, every day of the week, so it's pretty easy to make it to one when you're in the mood. I grew up on a farm and miss that farm-fresh taste, so this is fun for me and a great way to get my kids interested in fresh fruits and vegetables, where they come from and that they can actually be (gasp!) good to eat.

This weekend we brought home: white peaches, doughnut peaches, strawberry tomatoes, Campari tomatoes on the vine, Blue Lake green beans, butter lettuce, green lettuce, Oxnard strawberries, golden beets, a 5-lb bag of oranges, tzatziki and hummus, sweet corn tamales (for Jake) and kettle corn (for the kids). I have GOT to get me one of those wheeled carts I see the serious farmers market customers pulling around. By the time we are done, my arms feel like they are going to fall off from all the bags of food I'm carrying around. But the kids love it and what's extra nice is that since I let them help me pick out and sample the veggies and fruits, they will often try things that they wouldn't otherwise. The latest example is the green beans. They have never liked them before when I put them on their plates at dinner, but since they were able to pick them out and bag them at the farmers market, they have discovered that they like them. This is worth the little extra I end up paying - seeing them eat fresh veggies and liking them is very satisfying.

I even eat healthier when we buy at the farmers market. For snacks this week I've been having small bowls of strawberry tomatoes - small, reddest of red, and very sweet - they totally hit the spot and satisfy both sweet and savory cravings. The Campari tomatoes on the vine have become our "salad" for meals. I layer them with fresh basil from my garden and fresh mozzarella cheese I pick up at Trader Joe's. I then drizzle them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sea salt to make one of the ultimate salads of summer - the Caprese salad.

Isn't summer awesome!?

Restless Nights with an Officer

Sleeping with a police officer can have many surprises. No, this post isn't about fuzzy handcuffs or "other" scenarios. It's about actually sleeping, or NOT sleeping, with a police officer.

Some people have to deal with loud snorers or insomniacs when they cohabitate a bed with a loved one. Those of us married to police officers get even more fun to deal with. During our decade and a half of sleeping together, I've had to deal with Jake's insomnia, nighttime migraines, "jimmy legs," startle reflexes and more.

Insomnia is a common problem with law enforcement. It's a well-known side effect stemming from post-traumatic stress, something commonly experienced by officers at some point during their career. And the non-traditional work shifts, combined with rotations between these shifts during an officer's career don't help a man or woman develop normal sleep habits. Add in kids and you've got some pretty sleep-deprived people.

Jake had a bad car accident on duty early in our marriage that hospitalized him with, among other injuries, some pretty bad head trauma. A lasting effect from this injury has been severe migraines that hit him pretty regularly. And for some reason, they come mostly late in the afternoon or at night. He'll go to bed feeling fine and wake up practically screaming with pain. Migraine sufferers know, there's not much you can do but tough it out. I try to do what I can, but often I end up sleeping in the guest room on nights like this, letting the migraine run its course.

Then there are the times that Jake startles awake or gets a kind of restless leg syndrome thing going when times are especially stressful, hours are long, etc at work. We got a California King bed a few years ago, so it gives me the room to not be bothered too much by that. If we were still in a Queen, forget  about it.  

Jake gets mad/jealous of how easily and quickly I can fall asleep after waking up during the night or when we go on long drives. I explain to him that it's a well-honed survival skill, because if I couldn't, between him and the kids, I'd be a total mess.

LAPD in Wikipedia

Want to learn A LOT about the LAPD? Check out the Wikipedia entry on the Los Angeles Police Department HERE. I'm betting even some old-timers might find tidbits of info new to them about this department. Interesting stuff...

LAPD Gains Strong Endorsementfrom the Public

Love, love, love to see stories like this one from the Los Angeles Times. A recent poll shows that the general opinion of the LAPD has reached record highs not seen for 20 years.

"Los Angeles police are riding a crest of goodwill that has pushed the department's popularity to levels not sustained since the late 1980s as cops continue to post gains on fighting crime and building closer ties with the people they serve.

The strong endorsement of the LAPD cuts across racial and ethnic lines, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll -- with the percentages of black and Latino voters who say they approve of how the police do their jobs almost as high as the level among white voters. That result is particularly notable given the long history of tensions between the police and the city's black and Latino communities."

Read the full story here: LAPD gains new approval from the public.

"If I was a Police Officer..."

"Police officers are just everyday heroes that can’t fly,
unless they get into a helicopter of course."

This is a quote from one of the winning essays submitted by 6th, 7th and 8th graders in answer to the question: "If you were a police officer for a day, what would you do to help the community?" The 10 winning essays are being featured on the LAPD official website. It's interesting to see life, our city and our police through the eyes of these children.