Maxey sentimental about time on force
Death and domestic f ishts fill officer’s day |
By Henry Battistoni
Staff Reporter
The first stop of the morning for
Lt. Albert Maxey, duty commander
for the Lincoln Police Department,
was a house in south uncoln. A
“full code,” meaning someone is
dead, came over the radio. An eld
erly diabetic had been found dead
in his apartment.
Maxey entered the building to
coordinate the work of his officer
already on the scene. He instructed
his man and was back in the cruiser
and on the radio in six minutes. No
foul play was evident.
As duty commander, Maxey is in
charge of about 30 officers. Most of
his tone, like Tuesday morning, is
speht in a patrol car directing his
officers’ actions in the field. While
he is out in the patrol car he rarely
needs to leave it, commanding
from his two radios and cellular
phone. The remainder of his time is
spent on paperwork
He feigned not knowing- that
most police officers can be found at
ivuimiu jL/unuia.
“I don’t eat donuts or drink
much coffee,” he said. Shortly
thereafter he passed a policeman
with coffee and a bag of donuts.
Maxey does not usually make
arrests. His car does not have a
screen between the seats and he
cannot carry criminals. But he does
help out as he did in his second
stop.
A call came over the radio that
two men were causing a distur
bance at 17th and P streets. Maxey
was nearby and drove over. An
other officer was already there and
a third was on the way. Whenever
an officer takes a call, it is Lincoln
Police policy for a backup to be
present. This is why from two to 10
cruisers are invariably present at
any fender-bender.
The two men were obviously
"Look at that. That guy knew he
couldn’t stand up,” Maxey laughed
as the tall man sat on the curb.
Maxey and the other officer
questioned the two men.
Then they frisked them, hand
cuffed and put them in separate
patrol cars. Tne tall man didn’t want
to get in. Maxey put his hand over
the man’s head. The tall man swore
"Get your hand off my goddamn
head!” Maxev was getting annoyed
and told him to duck.
The man had bloody hands from
an apparent fall onto pavement.
Some of it was on Maxey’s hands.
He said he wo Ties about touching
Mood from others while on the job.
"They give officers gloves, but
sometimes it’s not convenient,” he
said.
• • •
Maxey has been on the force for
2S years. He said that he likes his
job and Lincoln. Lincoln is a great
place to raise kids, he said. He has
four -- two are University of Ne
braska-Lincoln graduates-, his alma
mater. He looks younger than his
51 years, possibly the result of
pastimes like bicycling, marathon
running and a former spot as a
scholarship basketball player at
UNL
While Maxey notes that Lin
coln's crime rate is low, he said it is
inevitable that crime will grow as
the population increases. Larceny is
now tne most common crime in
Lincoln, he said.
“I think the majority of our larce
nies involve people stealing for
their drug habits,” he said.
Maxey said he thinks the gang
rumors circulating in Lincoln are
largely media hype.
^The news is in the business of
making money,” he said.
He said that the media sensa
tionalize and people get sucked
into the hype. Even fellow officers
start believing die hype and stories
of a few kids that are not truly gang
members but wish to identify with
a group receiving popular atten
Uon, Maxey said.
"They (die police) had calls for
drive-by shootings out there (the
28th and Q streets area),” he
laughs. “I think they (residents) just
wanted us out there.”
Though he downplays gangs,
Maxey sees a drug problem in Lin
coln. He said crack is in Lincoln, but
information is only known about
some users and small-time dealers.
“You gotta hide it in a place like
this. It’s (crack) here but you don’t
see it,” he said.
Because of Lincoln’s small size
one doesn’t find a large number of
people idly hanging around selling
drugs, he said.
“The Royal Grove is the only
place I can give you for that kind
of activity. Whereas Omaha might
have ten places, we only have one
and it’s way out there,” he said.
The worst crime Maxey said he
feels most police officers in Lin
coln face day to day is domestic,
assault. He said intervening in
family affairs is touchy and full of
pressure.
"If you don’t watch out you
.could lake that home,” he said.
The pressure of involving one
came more apparent when a call
came in from St. Elizabeth’s Hospi
tal. A three-day-old baby whose
mother was determined to be
incapable of caring for her be
cause of mental and physical
problems was waiting to be re
ceived by social services. An offi
cer was assigned to the hospital.
Maxey said ne worried that the
woman might not take the
separation well. He pointed to her
house as he drove down 27th
street. , .
“She has no business having
that baby," he said. ‘‘So now I
have an officer out there waiting
for the child protection people.
This is work you do that hurts," he
^Maxey is sentimental about his
time on the beat. He said, “The
best was when you were on the
beat. It was like you had a little
town you were in charge of. The
bigger it was, the more territory
you could cover and sneak
Maxey said when he started the
force he was the only black offi
cer. He said he would go into
Bob’s or Arnold’s Tavern on Hav
elock Avenue to remove drunks
and hear “Get outta here nigger."
Maxey smiled and said, "But
ears. "I used to carry them out on
my shoulder and set them down
on the corner to wait for the patrol
■ ..
Though he downplays gangs, Maxey
sees a drug problem in Lincoln. He said
crack is in Lincoln, but information is
only known about some users and small
time dealers. ,,
playing basketball I could see out
to here,” and held his hands at the
side of his head well behind his
car. I had three or four of them out
on the corner at a time. They (of
ficers) said 'Maxey, you’ve gotta
slow down or they’re gonna kill i
you out there,”’ he said, laughing a
again.
Maxey sees most bigotry as
covert in Lincoln.
“People will be talking to you
and then thinking something else,"
he said.
• * •
Maxey spent the morning driv
ing around Lincoln looking for a
woman in a two-tone car with
Colorado plates. She was sus
pected to be a bad check writer.
But most of his time was spent
driving around and monitoring his
radio. He said it’s not boring riding
around. He has a car radio he can
monitor if he gets bored Unfortu
nately, it's AM. *
14. Albert Maxey helps a suspect arrested for “creating a disturbance” into a police cruiser at
17th Jfc P streets Wednesday.
1 •
