A Few Rotten Apples

For those of you that don't know, I am a police officer for the San Diego Police Department. I currently am assigned to the Field Training Administration and I volunteer my time as a coach during my off duty time.

There are several parents and family members of our players that are also in Law Enforcement. I speak for all of those parents by saying once we are away from work, that is where we want to leave work, away from our children's activities.

A friend of mine, who was a former partner, came to the last game in his police uniform to watch his nephew play against Hilltop. While he was in the stands, he was flagged down by a parent who told him there was a gentleman drinking alcohol in the stands.

My officer friend had to talk to the gentleman who claimed to be an uncle of our of players. He was indeed drinking an alcoholic beverage not only in the stands, but on a school campus. While the officer was talking to the uncle, his wife became verbally abusive as if to say, "Don't you cops have anything better to do?"

The answer is no, we don't. We are building men for the future and setting examples for our young men. Besides, you're breaking the law and acting inappropriately. My former partner was able to talk to the man and his wife and explain the reasons they shouldn't be drinking alcohol at a school function and they were let go with a warning.

In the future, if any of you see anything that deserves the attention of the authorities, please find a school administrator or let me know and I will find somebody to take care of the problem. I don't want to do police work while I'm coaching or while I'm off duty, but I want to insure a safe and enjoyable experience for our fans and players.

I will be talking to our players about this incident on Monday in the hopes our players can shame these few rotten apples into compliance.