(Posted with permission from the subject)
So, almost 40 years ago when I was a rookie cop piloting a Crown Vic around the mean
streets of the wealthiest community in Illinois I had my trusty Pro 30 handheld scanner
ever at my side in my duty bag. On the midnight shift I was listening to Larry Schreiner
on WGN Radio talking about a big fire on Devon Avenue on the North Side of Chicago. I
then tuned into “Fire Main” (154.130) and other CFD channels and it was clear this was
going to get worse before it got better. I, being happily single still, decided to go by and
watch the fun when my shift finished in half an hour.
I turned in the keys to my trusty steed and changed to my civvies and headed down to
the West Ridge neighborhood and followed the smoke header. For a fall weekday
morning the traffic was surprisingly light, and I arrived shortly before 9:00 AM, found
parking a block or two west of the fire buildings and walked over with my Pro-30 and a
pocket full of AA batteries. I walked up to one of the street barricades and found a great
view of the activity. Since I was right there, I switched the scanner to “Fireground”
(153.830) as most operations on the scene were working here. A few minutes later a
guy sauntered up next to me and asked about my scanner. He had one of his own, but I
will be darned if I recall the model. He and I spoke the same language, and we talked
about scanners, the Chicago Fire Department and other stuff. I soon realized this guy
was an expert in all these things, and in a good way. He actually knew what he spoke
about, not like those guys who think they know everything but don’t, he actually DID
know everything.
We were chatting for 10 or 15 minutes and a local beat cop protecting the perimeter
suggested we move to another spot for a better view. He escorted us one on the other
end of the barricaded off area and we stood along the yellow “Police Line” tape,
respecting the boundaries set up by the police department protecting the scene. After a
few minutes there another beat cop walked up to us and said we could get a better view
from the roof of the building next to the fire building and pointed out the entrance. He
then held the tape up for us.
Now why they singled us out and suggested the better views I will never know. We had
nothing to suggest any official purpose for us to be there, we didn’t have any cameras,
fire or police or even press paraphernalia other than the scanners. Maybe it was the
“salt and pepper team” we presented. Perhaps my stance might have been recognized
by the well-seasoned officer. Years later my mom had a retirement job at a Phoenix
courthouse doing clerical work and could pick out cops in street clothes by the way they
walked with their arms fairly far from their bodies due to working with a gun and radio on
their hips. Maybe he noticed the same thing on me.
We didn’t need to be asked twice. We sauntered up to the door we were directed to and
made our way up to the 5 th floor and found the roof access. It was a floor higher than the
fire building and afforded an awesome view of the fire.
So, let’s hear about Joel; He was (and still is) a few years older than me. A city guy for
sure, he was working as a messenger at the time and knew more about the streets of
Chicago than anyone I knew save for my CSL/CTA bus driver grandfather. (Chicago
Surface Lines was a predecessor to the Chicago Transit Authority that runs the city’s
busses) He also knew everything about the Chicago Fire Department. He knew where
all the stations were, what rigs were where, down to the model years of the apparatus.
When he heard on the scanner that the fire we were watching was going to a 5th alarm
he knew that Engines 73, 46 and 12 were on the way and Truck 12 would be following
shortly. Battalion Chief 7 would be coming in from Engine 46’s quarters but in his own
buggy with a driver.
The more we talked the more we realized we shared many interests. Besides scanners
he was also into trains and planes. We both had extensive frequency lists in these days
well before computers and the internet made sharing a breeze. He had a notebook
much like mine and we compared notes.
I invited Joel to an RCMA meeting scheduled for the next month. He had heard about
RCMA but didn’t know there was local chapter. I had only been to a few meetings by
then and was fascinated by the knowledge of the members and the characters involved
(See my Father Ed and Tactical Cabbie stories). Joel became a well-trusted member of
the local scanner community very soon.
Joel had (and has) a few quirks. One is story telling. Get him started and be sure to
bring something to eat and drink as he can talk for hours. You won’t be bored but
eventually you have to ask him to stop so you can hit the can. The stories are never
boring, and I haven’t heard the same story twice in the 40 years I have known him.
We would car-pool to radio club meetings around the Midwest, visit a local airport or rail
yard. Each trip was always interesting, and I always learned something.
While several of us were doing research for the Scanner Master Illinois
Communications Guide. I mentioned this on a prior Scanner Tale, but it bears repeating
here. Matt, Joel and I went to Springfield (the state capital) for a few days to do some
research and happened to drive by the fire department main offices there. Joel asked
me to pull over as he wanted to run in and see about snatching up a patch for his
collection. 30 minutes or so later we wondered what happened to him and went in to
find him. We asked the secretary if a big black guy had come in, we were his friends
and were worried. She smiled and pointed up to the Fire Chief’s office down the hall.
So, we knocked on the door and went in the office. Joel was standing over a city map of
Springfield and he and the (new) fire chief were rearranging the apparatus assignments.
“Put the engine in Station 3 instead and you will have better coverage on both sides of
the railroad. Move the truck in Station 2 to Station 5 in case the train crossings are
blocked.”
That was the kind of guy Joel was, give him a sentence and he will write you a book.
The chief had been promoted just the week before, he gave us cards with “Lieutenant”
scratched out and “Chief” written in. We walked out with patches for all of us and a
complete roster of apparatus (although the station assignments were soon to be
changed) and a referral to the police headquarters downtown for a full tour.
When we arrived there the Police Chief greeted us in the lobby and personally showed
us every inch of the facility, right down to the “Bike Room” where they kept all the stray
bicycles they picked up. He gave us copies of just about everything, knowing full well
that we were writing a scanner guide. He then made a phone call and escorted us to the
secure elevator to the dispatch center and sent us to the top floor.
When we arrived at “Cap Comm” (as it was known at the time) we were treated like
royalty. Matt loved it as they had the same consoles (GE 2500’s) as we did on both our
police departments but the ones here were spotless and better maintained. Joel was
looking at beat maps and the director was making copies of everything but the
personnel files for us.
Later we went out to the airport and found the FAA office. Again, Joel smooth-talked us
to the Director’s office and we were provided things like charts, airport guides and more.
I soon realized that Joel could charm the knickers off a nun.
Joel has always been a driver; he had been a messenger and later drove airport vans
and shuffled rental cars. He always lived in the North Loop as long as I have known
him. As a suburban boy I could never understand city life, but he loves it.
As part of the Chicago Chapter of the RCMA Joel was one of the half-dozen of us who
reorganized it as CARMA and was one of the Directors. He also helped Ted and I with
some of the big handouts we made up. He knew where to find the three-ring binders we
needed by the hundred count on the cheap for example.
I also introduced Joel into the computer age and gave him his first Mac computer, an old
Mac Plus I bought some years before. That little Mac Plus was the first computer for at
least 5 CARMA members over the years. Since then, he has had several different Macs
and is still a Mac guy. We would share FileMaker Pro files with our frequency lists often.
Since I moved to Arizona almost a decade ago Joel and I tend to talk about once a
week or so on Facetime. I just talked to him for an hour or so this afternoon. He is the
kind of guy that you just have to like if you meet him.
So, almost 40 years ago when I was a rookie cop piloting a Crown Vic around the mean
streets of the wealthiest community in Illinois I had my trusty Pro 30 handheld scanner
ever at my side in my duty bag. On the midnight shift I was listening to Larry Schreiner
on WGN Radio talking about a big fire on Devon Avenue on the North Side of Chicago. I
then tuned into “Fire Main” (154.130) and other CFD channels and it was clear this was
going to get worse before it got better. I, being happily single still, decided to go by and
watch the fun when my shift finished in half an hour.
I turned in the keys to my trusty steed and changed to my civvies and headed down to
the West Ridge neighborhood and followed the smoke header. For a fall weekday
morning the traffic was surprisingly light, and I arrived shortly before 9:00 AM, found
parking a block or two west of the fire buildings and walked over with my Pro-30 and a
pocket full of AA batteries. I walked up to one of the street barricades and found a great
view of the activity. Since I was right there, I switched the scanner to “Fireground”
(153.830) as most operations on the scene were working here. A few minutes later a
guy sauntered up next to me and asked about my scanner. He had one of his own, but I
will be darned if I recall the model. He and I spoke the same language, and we talked
about scanners, the Chicago Fire Department and other stuff. I soon realized this guy
was an expert in all these things, and in a good way. He actually knew what he spoke
about, not like those guys who think they know everything but don’t, he actually DID
know everything.
We were chatting for 10 or 15 minutes and a local beat cop protecting the perimeter
suggested we move to another spot for a better view. He escorted us one on the other
end of the barricaded off area and we stood along the yellow “Police Line” tape,
respecting the boundaries set up by the police department protecting the scene. After a
few minutes there another beat cop walked up to us and said we could get a better view
from the roof of the building next to the fire building and pointed out the entrance. He
then held the tape up for us.
Now why they singled us out and suggested the better views I will never know. We had
nothing to suggest any official purpose for us to be there, we didn’t have any cameras,
fire or police or even press paraphernalia other than the scanners. Maybe it was the
“salt and pepper team” we presented. Perhaps my stance might have been recognized
by the well-seasoned officer. Years later my mom had a retirement job at a Phoenix
courthouse doing clerical work and could pick out cops in street clothes by the way they
walked with their arms fairly far from their bodies due to working with a gun and radio on
their hips. Maybe he noticed the same thing on me.
We didn’t need to be asked twice. We sauntered up to the door we were directed to and
made our way up to the 5 th floor and found the roof access. It was a floor higher than the
fire building and afforded an awesome view of the fire.
So, let’s hear about Joel; He was (and still is) a few years older than me. A city guy for
sure, he was working as a messenger at the time and knew more about the streets of
Chicago than anyone I knew save for my CSL/CTA bus driver grandfather. (Chicago
Surface Lines was a predecessor to the Chicago Transit Authority that runs the city’s
busses) He also knew everything about the Chicago Fire Department. He knew where
all the stations were, what rigs were where, down to the model years of the apparatus.
When he heard on the scanner that the fire we were watching was going to a 5th alarm
he knew that Engines 73, 46 and 12 were on the way and Truck 12 would be following
shortly. Battalion Chief 7 would be coming in from Engine 46’s quarters but in his own
buggy with a driver.
The more we talked the more we realized we shared many interests. Besides scanners
he was also into trains and planes. We both had extensive frequency lists in these days
well before computers and the internet made sharing a breeze. He had a notebook
much like mine and we compared notes.
I invited Joel to an RCMA meeting scheduled for the next month. He had heard about
RCMA but didn’t know there was local chapter. I had only been to a few meetings by
then and was fascinated by the knowledge of the members and the characters involved
(See my Father Ed and Tactical Cabbie stories). Joel became a well-trusted member of
the local scanner community very soon.
Joel had (and has) a few quirks. One is story telling. Get him started and be sure to
bring something to eat and drink as he can talk for hours. You won’t be bored but
eventually you have to ask him to stop so you can hit the can. The stories are never
boring, and I haven’t heard the same story twice in the 40 years I have known him.
We would car-pool to radio club meetings around the Midwest, visit a local airport or rail
yard. Each trip was always interesting, and I always learned something.
While several of us were doing research for the Scanner Master Illinois
Communications Guide. I mentioned this on a prior Scanner Tale, but it bears repeating
here. Matt, Joel and I went to Springfield (the state capital) for a few days to do some
research and happened to drive by the fire department main offices there. Joel asked
me to pull over as he wanted to run in and see about snatching up a patch for his
collection. 30 minutes or so later we wondered what happened to him and went in to
find him. We asked the secretary if a big black guy had come in, we were his friends
and were worried. She smiled and pointed up to the Fire Chief’s office down the hall.
So, we knocked on the door and went in the office. Joel was standing over a city map of
Springfield and he and the (new) fire chief were rearranging the apparatus assignments.
“Put the engine in Station 3 instead and you will have better coverage on both sides of
the railroad. Move the truck in Station 2 to Station 5 in case the train crossings are
blocked.”
That was the kind of guy Joel was, give him a sentence and he will write you a book.
The chief had been promoted just the week before, he gave us cards with “Lieutenant”
scratched out and “Chief” written in. We walked out with patches for all of us and a
complete roster of apparatus (although the station assignments were soon to be
changed) and a referral to the police headquarters downtown for a full tour.
When we arrived there the Police Chief greeted us in the lobby and personally showed
us every inch of the facility, right down to the “Bike Room” where they kept all the stray
bicycles they picked up. He gave us copies of just about everything, knowing full well
that we were writing a scanner guide. He then made a phone call and escorted us to the
secure elevator to the dispatch center and sent us to the top floor.
When we arrived at “Cap Comm” (as it was known at the time) we were treated like
royalty. Matt loved it as they had the same consoles (GE 2500’s) as we did on both our
police departments but the ones here were spotless and better maintained. Joel was
looking at beat maps and the director was making copies of everything but the
personnel files for us.
Later we went out to the airport and found the FAA office. Again, Joel smooth-talked us
to the Director’s office and we were provided things like charts, airport guides and more.
I soon realized that Joel could charm the knickers off a nun.
Joel has always been a driver; he had been a messenger and later drove airport vans
and shuffled rental cars. He always lived in the North Loop as long as I have known
him. As a suburban boy I could never understand city life, but he loves it.
As part of the Chicago Chapter of the RCMA Joel was one of the half-dozen of us who
reorganized it as CARMA and was one of the Directors. He also helped Ted and I with
some of the big handouts we made up. He knew where to find the three-ring binders we
needed by the hundred count on the cheap for example.
I also introduced Joel into the computer age and gave him his first Mac computer, an old
Mac Plus I bought some years before. That little Mac Plus was the first computer for at
least 5 CARMA members over the years. Since then, he has had several different Macs
and is still a Mac guy. We would share FileMaker Pro files with our frequency lists often.
Since I moved to Arizona almost a decade ago Joel and I tend to talk about once a
week or so on Facetime. I just talked to him for an hour or so this afternoon. He is the
kind of guy that you just have to like if you meet him.
