 |  |  | |
An up close and personal interview with U.S. Police Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
DET Gerry Hoff (2003-Present)
Denver Police Department
WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO MAKE A CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT?
 was six years old and my mother worked for the Anchorage Police Department as a dispatcher. Her boyfriend, who became her 2nd out of 4 husbands, was an APD officer. I would often watch him get dressed in his uniform, practice drawing his gun, and ride in his police car. I remember a family choir practices. Nights where I ended up sleeping under the pool table of the restaurant and playing with the other officers children on a bowling night. We were a police family. A brotherhood.
After the divorce, my mother was still a dispatcher. We would still have officers come by the house to check on my brother and I. They would help light the pilot light on our crappy trailer we moved into or take care of a minor neighborhood dispute.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?
 Despite failing my first academy, I worked hard to get to be a police officer. I was rejected over and over again. I always blamed it on the agency and how I was just not the piece to their puzzle they needed.
Truth is, I was just saying the wrong things and acting as if I knew more than I really did.
Since being hired by my department, I continually work to prove the doubters wrong. I have made it to the Gang Unit for training, I have made it to our SCAT team for training. I have been to Vice/Narcotics Detective training.
I have worked the same Precinct for eight years now and have now moved to a tougher car with more calls.
Nothing is holding me back. Everyday that I don't feel like working, I remind myself that I have a list of people to prove wrong.
DID YOU SERVE IN THE MILITARY PRIOR? AND IF SO, IN WHAT BRANCH OF SERVICE? IN WHAT WAYS HAS MILITARY SERVICE INFLUENCED YOUR CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT?
My father was a 42 year veteran of the Air Force. I should have joined, but went the hard road instead. I work hard everyday to honor his service.
WHICH, OF THE AGENCIES OR DEPARTMENTS YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO, DO YOU HAVE THE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY?
My current department has my memories. I worked a year at Gilcrest PD and got my first arrest, first ass chewing, first court rejected ticket, first criminal mischief report, first domestic arrest, second domestic arrest, first police car wreck (I missed hitting the elk, but got the ditch) and many more.
 I had my Dad and best friend from high school Todd show up at graduation. That is the memory I will never lose. My wife pinning on my badge was a special moment. I was glad she did not drive the pin through my chest for all the years she put up with my dream.
Nothing compares to my time in FTO at Denver. The first car chase with a PITT. The first real police fight I was in. The first time I was shot at because of a traffic ticket. The large agency with a large criminal population really helps the memories that grow everyday.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER WHAT PARTICULAR INCIDENT HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
It was September 11, 2006. I was sent to a house with a suicidal party. I actually went twice to see the guy. The first time we walked around the house like dumb rookies looking in to windows and talking loud. Little did we know this guy was in the house listening to us and monitoring where we went with several loaded guns.
We left and were called back shortly afterward when the suspects girlfriend called dispatch again saying he was at the house and was watching us the entire time.  The second time I went back it was the same Officers. One of the Officers had a "Boot" (new recruit) with him who had a little bit of a troubled past in the academy and during his other phases of FTO. As we checked doors again and looked in windows no one came out or even told us to go away. The Boot went to a sliding glass door that had a red shade drawn and attempted to slide the door. I had been on the other side of the glass watching him giving his FTO a hard time when I heard the loudest sound I had ever heard. You never realize how loud a gun being cocked is until someone else does it near you. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The window glass to the sliding door was being shot out. I yelled on the radio what was going on and our location while running to cover. As the FTO and I fought for space on the front of a van parked in the driveway two loud blasts from a gun went off and he said, "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE SHOOTING AT!" I looked at him and said, "Us". At the time I thought it was the person in the house. I later found out it was the Boot who was shooting when we had made it to the front of the van.
I then moved to the rear of the house to keep this suspect indoors. That was the longest run from cover to cover that I had ever made. Or at least it seemed as if I would never get to the back yard. The cover that I had that gave me a clear view of the rear door was a small tree that did not really cover my frame and a shed behind the little tree filled with propane tanks. Officers were coming in hot and the Sergeant was on the air asking what we needed. I was able to tell dispatch what streets to block and what houses to evacuate. My 1911 was in my hand and its a single stack so every shot I would take was going to have to count. I could hear this guy still popping rounds off in the front and when he stopped I knew he was coming out the back.
I used my stinger light and lit up the door when I heard noise and he did not even open the door and began to fire out through the door towards my light through the black  garbage bag that covered the window. I was told later while he was firing I got on the radio and was calm as ice as I told everyone he was shooting at me with the shots going off during my broadcast. I decided at that time to keep moving my flash light around when ever I would light up the door, never keeping it at the same level. I knew one of the other officers that came with me was in my line of fire on the other side of the house if I would have just let rounds go so I did not fire at the black plastic despite being able to see his muzzle flash from the .22 rifle he was shooting from. I wanted to make sure every round I sent was not going to the wrong person. However, unknown to me that officer had run to safer cover when I went to the back.
I could hear the metro team coming on the air and heard gang officers with long rifles were at the scene. Three times while I was in the back he came to the rear, I would light up the area near the door and he would empty a mag in my general direction. The tree that was my cover took several rounds above my head. During the stand off I was yelling our suspects name and telling him we are the DPD and to come out and surrender. I was told later by other officers that as long as I kept yelling they knew I was alive and that was letting him know we were not going away.
 Metro (SWAT) showed up with our old armored vehicle and parked it on this guys front lawn.
The weather was nice until he started shooting. It was about 85 degrees and once shots were fired it became dark and then started raining. I was soaked and now it's dark. My voice was rasp from yelling.
During a quiet moment I heard a voice to my west and took my eyes off the door. Sitting twenty feet from me was Joe with a big grin on his face that we all know him for. Joe told me to come to him and we would both cover the rear door. I was kind of locked in place at that moment and Joe saw what was going on with me. He held up his 870 Remington and told me, "If you come to me I will give you the long gun and we will get you some revenge." I began to move and the man in the house started shooting at me again. The Metro armored vehicle turned on all of its lights and someone started yelling through the speaker system for this guy to come out the front. He stopped shooting in the back and started shooting at the armored vehicle and I could hear the shots bouncing off the metal.
When I got to Joe I grabbed the shotgun out of Joe's hands and turned around to head back to the rear door. I had made up my mind that I was going to give this guy a piece of my mind for shooting at me. Joe being a former Marine with combat experience knew where I was going and what I was going to do, grabbed my belt and dragged me back to cover. To this day I want to punch Joe in the mouth for keeping me from what I was going to do, but I thank him once and a while for doing what he did. That's Joe on the left.
 A Metro Sergeant then came over the radio and began barking orders at officers to hold their positions and that they would be relieved shortly by a Metro officer. Before that could happen, the suspect came out the front shirtless without a gun and began to yell for the officers to kill him. A dog was let loose and a 40mm were shot and the fight was on. This guy was hitting the dog and trying to pull his mouth off of his inner thigh. The Metro guys went to him and he was taken to the hospital after the they had a word or three with him about how to treat animals.
I was sent to headquarters and placed in a waiting room with another officer observing me for 6 hours. The Boot who was shooting at the beginning of all this was strutting up and down the hall drawing stares from all of the officer who wanted to kick his ass and throw him from a window. I had found out on scene that when he shot his gun he fired at a cat. Apparently the cat had jumped from the roof and he thought it was the guy coming out at him when he dropped to his belly in front of the door he was not supposed to open. (This Boot was later given an option to quit or be fired after several off duty incidents while still in FTO).
After waiting for hours I was finally interviewed and allowed to go home.
 The suspect thought that another police agency was coming for him for a hit and run he caused. He didn't know his girlfriend had called for suicidal statements he had made to her. The city attorney gave him a deal for three years probation on felony menacing for shooting at me 46 times. It was back door deal, but life goes on.
OF THE MEDALS, AWARDS OR BADGES YOU RECEIVED, WHAT IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
In 2008 I pulled over a mobile meth lab. I observed the vehicle with no front plate. I got in behind it and ran the rear plate and it was no record found. After stopping them, the driver was driving on a suspended license with no insurance, registration, seat belt and a broken windshield.
 I pulled the guy from the van and searched him for weapons and sat him on the curb. I was just going to tow the car until my partner opened the rear and I saw the containers with bi-level fluids, kitty litter and tubes. I grabbed my driver and handcuffed him. I then walked him to the rear of the van and pointed out the lab to him. He admitted everything, and even gave up when and where he was going to finish cooking more meth for someone else. They got hooked up by us at a later time.
The narcotics unit showed up with the fire department, news media and several other officers to block off the area where we stopped. I will never forget that moment. My Sergeant went to town writing a letter for me to get me Officer of the Quarter. The way he explained it was that I work with people who never make traffic stops and would not have gone the extra lengths to stop a vehicle for just a missing plate. I did hear some grumblings from guys who worked on the old SCAT unit and how they stop meth labs and catch drug dealers all the time. I made it a point to find that officer and explain to him that he does not answer calls for service like I do and his time is spent doing nothing but looking for these types of stops and covering detectives who did all the work for them.
I got a mug with my name and the department logo and was allowed to park in the Officer of the Quarter spot. My name was put on the wall with other officers in my district. My Commander normally hands out the award and shakes your hand for photos. For some reason he was not happy with me and even though the award was supposed to be given to me in January I got it during roll call in March from the Sergeant who was just reading the notes off the roll call clip board. I knew I was getting the award because my name went up on the wall before anything else. I refused to park in the special spot because it's just not me.
The award means the most to me. Despite lack of support from fellow officers who should have been patting me on the back and lack of support from my own station Commander I still won the day.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL PERSON FROM YOUR CAREER MADE THE MOST POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON YOU AND WHY?
My current Sergeant is one of the best and I hope to follow in his foot steps with the way he treats the troops.
CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR CAREER THAT WAS FUNNY AT THE TIME AND STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
 The entire Democratic National Convention was a joke. My favorite moment was when we were standing outside of Mile High Stadium and a filthy girl with no shoes, brown feet and was holding a cardboard sign is standing in the street with the words "Decrease POLICE!" on the sign. My Sergeant (who will not go in my book of favorite people) ended up standing next to her and attempting to engage this ignorant person in conversation. I just took a photo of them together.
I had it made into a 12x12 and have it hung on a wall. Despite my dislike for him, I found it funny that this young girl with no shoes and poor hygiene was holding her own.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER?
 Never say something to someone about someone else unless you are prepared to say it to the other person. Never go out of your way to let your superior who has time to mess with you, know what you really feel about them.
Cops like everyone else are just as junior high as they can be if they think they can get away with it.
Over the years I have found it's better to build up the good people you know and support them and ignore the idiots you work with unless they are putting your career or life in danger. Then put boots to their ass.
WHAT LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP(S)?
I am a PPA and FOP member. I contribute money and that is about it. I have joined other police memberships, but rarely take the time to thank them for working for all police officers.
HOW HAS SERVING AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU CONDUCT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT?
When I first started as a cop I could not wait to tell everyone I was a cop. I would show them my badge, my gun if they asked and tell stories of my exploits and those of my fellow officers. Even though it was unsafe I would engage myself  in other peoples problems off duty. I was an idiot who was too proud to realize just how unsafe I was being. Some of my actions drove away close friends who I have known for years. My wife jokes that I would take a interview stance with her once and a while. "Just how much did you spend at the grocery store ma'am?" I am shocked she has not hit me with a frying pan yet.
Over the years I have found out that a lot of resentful, small minded people under the influence or sober as a judge just plain dislike and hate cops. I make it a point now to not wear police apparel outside of work. I do not shop in my district or live in my district. I am very proud to be in the police department. I just don't need to have a sign on my car (like fire fighters plates) for everyone to see. I make sure to keep myself distanced from fights or problems off duty because my family comes first and I don't want them hurt. That being said, I would drop anyone who threatened my family, my brothers in blue or me off duty. Just because you take off your uniform does not turn you into a sheep for wolves to prey on.
When it comes to non-police friends, we don't always see eye to eye, but they live a different style of life than I do. I understand when they stare at me in horror when I tell a story and they are mortified, but it did not bother me. I try not to tell stories unless they are funny now. I make it a point to try and talk non-police things with my friends.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR A ROOKIE WHO HAS JUST PUT ON THE BADGE?
Don't be that guy. The list of don't be that guy is an ongoing list. Just know that you're going to make mistakes, don't be the guy who makes them twice.
Have fun with the job. Work hard. Do things right the first time. Don't take things personally. No half measures. Learn something new every day and keep an open mind. It's all a circus, don't be the clown.
 Cops are people too. You don't read good stories in the media too often because corruption, blood and guts sells papers. Cops make mistakes. Cops do stupid things to better themselves instead of thinking of what their actions may do to the image of the badge.
I have also seen fellow cops do amazing things, give up their own personnel goals, show moments of compassion for the less fortunate, even the lowest of criminals. Such an act of compassion was captured on camera recently by a passerby.
On a frigid night in Time Square in Oct. 2013, NYPD police officer Lawrence DePrimo came across a homeless man with no shoes and blistered feet. He politely asked the homeless man his shoe size, went to a nearby shoe store, bought shoes and socks with his own money, took them back and helped put them on.
Never let your bothers down by doing your best every time.
IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU FEEL THIS WEBSITE CAN BENEFIT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY?
Police Together We Served is a place where police officers can be themselves. No one understands what we deal with day in and day out better than another cop.
|
| Share this Voices on:
  |
|
TWS VOICES
TWS Voices are the personal stories of men and women who currently serve, or who previously served as a US Police or Federal Officer, and conveys how serving their Country and Community has made a positive impact on their lives. If you would like your story to be featured in a future edition of Voices, or know someone else who may be interested, please contact TWS Voices HERE.
This edition of Police Voices was supported by:
Police.Togetherweserved.com
For all current serving and veteran Police Officers, Together We Served is a secure, feature rich website enabling Officers to reconnect with lost Brothers and Sisters, share in the camaraderie of other Officers, network for professional purposes and to honor the service of all.
To join Police.Togetherweserved.com, please click HERE.
| |
