Eons ago, due to the amount of Charlottesville officers assigned to Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement, I thought it’d be a good idea to cultivate a source in the city’s force. Anybody who pays attention to I HeArTE JADE is well-aware I’ve got one there.
From my relationship with him came
an Albemarle policeman whom I incorporated into things -- which played out extra nicely since the Task Force also has numerous members deriving from the County Police Department. (He, ironically, knew me only because the other agency’s Police Chief,
Timothy Longo, had at the time been behind the scenes gossiping about who specifically was operating this site; a twist I liken to that whole “Loose Lips Sink Ships” thing. So… hail to the Chief!)
With Jimmy Bunch being the sole detective from the University of Virginia PD in JADE, and Joe Fleming being its lone Virginia State Police investigator, I didn’t bother trying to get an “in” there or there. Shortly after BCI Special Agent
Jason Trent invaded the scene, I halfheartedly re-evaluated the importance of the latter but right about the time I was seriously considering it might be necessary to have a spy in the State field, well, it’s not exactly an angle one can work from jail. Lesson learned; now “no source is unneeded” is right up there with my “
no detail is too small” -- friggin’ top of my list.
Until I’d met my two darling cops, I’d assumed the local Police Departments and their respective employees generally liked each other, with maybe a mite of healthy competition thrown in for the hell of it. As it turns out, that isn’t really the case at all. It’s not even the case within JADE, a group of men who practically spend more time with each other than they do with their families.
Anyhow, sometimes it’s just the inner circle I’ve been recently talking to, or, more like, listening to, combined with a related event, rather than a genuine interest I have in any given lawman, that determine the entries I make here.
For instance, the other day a UVA patrolman -- like I said, “lesson learned” -- mentioned Jeff Maddra. I knew who he was talking about ‘cause this wasn’t the first time Mr. Maddra’s name had come up, and, actually, I’d done a cursory search on him previously and discovered this picture of him:
He looks like he should be cast as a character in Southland, doesn’t he? Okay, then, the morning following that chat, I think it was, I happened to be in the clerk’s office at the Charlottesville General District Court/Police Department paying off fines and fees and costs, and any other word they can call it to get more money out of a person for the same conviction, when in strolls Mr. Maddra. Based on his attire -- a light-colored suit, dress shirt, dark shoes, and tie -- I figured he was taking care of his on-duty obligations while off-duty. Certainly no big deal.
Later, that evening, true to form, I dug up
his Facebook profile, since of course he’d use a social network
like every other badge-sporter seems to use.
I saved it too, as it’s not unheard of for these guys
to spaz and change or delete those accounts.
And now the entire nothing, about an individual I’m indifferent to, is all neatly integrated into a post.
See how that worked?
