This interview is being conducted with a female Metropolitan Dade County Police Officer in reference to the effects of Hurricane Andrew on the community, as well as its effects on police in general.

Because of undisclosed personal reasons, the policewoman has requested that her true name not be used or recorded. The interviewer has adopted a code name to be used to identify the officer and is not the true name of the officer being interviewed.

Jenkins: Would you please state your name?

Jones: Jane Jones.

Jenkins: And how old are you, Miss Jones? (I thought I said Mrs. Jones on the tape, but she must have misheard me).

Jones: Twentyseven years old, and it’s Mrs. Jones for the last five years.

Jenkins: I see, OK, my mistake! Do you have any children?

Jones: Not as of yet.

Jenkins: Mrs. Jones, how long have you served on the MetroDade Police force?

Jones: Four years this June.

Jenkins: Your husband, what is his occupation?

Jones: He is in business with his father; they run a nursery in Homestead. At least they used to. They’ve been trying to get it together since the storm hit. It’s been real hard on my fatherinlaw.

Jenkins: Is it hopeless, as far as business goes? Do you think they’ll be able to get it together, get the business back on its feet?

Jones: It’ll take a while, but I think they’ll do it. It means the world to them.

Jenkins: Officer Jones, where are you normally stationed?

Jones: Normally, I’m at Doral Park.

Jenkins: When talking about the storm, your official involvement, at least, in South Dade began after the storm. Could you give a description of your thoughts as you worked the first day in the devastated area?

Jones: I was in shock…It’s very hard to explain the feelings and emotions that ran through my mind when I saw the devastation of the places you go to everyday and see everyday, and just see it all gone. And the people…they were just…they weren’t the Miami residents you’re used to seeing everyday. They were in shock. They were afraid.

Jenkins: What, from a personal standpoint, was your reaction, as you saw, spoke with, and otherwise interacted with these people who live there?

Jones: I do live in Kendall Lakes, so it was a very personal thing. I wasn’t devastated by it, but my house did take some damage. But seeing others and knowing that they lived a few miles away from me, really just…it was hard to be professional, it was very hard. It was hard to see your neighborhood. where you’ve lived all your life, gone, and the people not knowing what to do, and it affected me in a great way. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.

Jenkins: Back to your professional responsibilities. As far as being a police officer, what kind of role did the police have down in South Dade immediately following the storm?

Jones: We suddenly became the servants, the helpers, the rescue team. We weren’t out there busting people, we weren’t out there answering to domestic disturbances, we were helping people, distributing food, making sure they were taken care of as far as injuries. The hospitals were packed, so we dealt with a lot of injuries that might have ended up in the hospital, and basic first aid. It was a very different role for us, very different. It actually made me feel good to be out there helping.

Jenkins: Officer Jones, where were you stationed during the storm itself?

Jones: We were at the Doral Country Club.

Jenkins: As the storm was actually going on, what were your thoughts as you went through the storm?

Jones: During the storm, it was scary, but I wasn’t expecting anything terrible. I don’t remember the hurricanes, I wasn’t even born, I don’t think, when the last storm hit Miami. So I wasn’t expecting something terrible. I mean, I’d heard of people surfing during hurricanes, so I was actually just afraid of the winds, and a glass window actually did cave in so I was kind of scared, but I wasn’t thinking it’s gonna be so catastrophic.

Jenkins: Even after you saw the thick plate glass window, you still didn’t think it was that bad?

Jones: I only thought, well, a few windows will be blown in, I didn’t think of roofing being blown away. I thought there would be some tree damage, no electricity, and I imagined, like, camping out for a few days until everything was back to normal.

Jenkins: After the storm, when you left the country club, what was your reaction as you went outside, and began to try and go where ever you needed to go?

Jones: Since we were in North Miami, so when we looked around and saw the trees and the telephone poles, I mean everything on the golf course was just cleared away. I was talking to the guy you interviewed, Mike Tang, and we thought, oh God, this is awful, y’know, we didn’t even think of human lives. We thought everyone was safe, in their homes, hidin’ out in their bathrooms, and finally, when we got down to South Miami it was totally different... it was like a war zone. It looked like something you see on the eleven o’clock news, when there’s some civil war going on in a third world country.

Jenkins: Let’s shift gears here, Officer Jones. I want you to talk about how the police roles changed over a period of time, and if they did, how did they change?

Jones: They did change. Basically, in the beginning everyone needed help once people got down there and were distributing food and medical care…

Jenkins: Excuse me, what people are we talking about?

Jones: The military. It changed for us because we were handling minor law enforcement that we weren’t doing before. Except now, we had looters, which was a difficult situation when the first few days after, people were in the WinnDixies taking food, and we were supposed to shoo them away, and I don’t think that I have the heart to arrest someone who is taking milk for their child. So it was more like you kind of told them, don’t do that, but then you’d kind of turn your back and let them do what they needed to do. So, then there were the other people, who were going into the record stores and the Radio Shacks or whatever, and taking TV’s and stereos. We arrested them, we were pretty hard on them, because there was no electricity. What business do they have taking records or radios? They were just taking advantage of the situation and I felt that was very sick.

Jenkins: Are you still stationed down South?

Jones: I was until October. There are still officers down there that are normally stationed up North, but I’m glad I’m back to normal as far as that goes.

Jenkins: Are you still working the same kind of shift you were working before?

Jones: No, no, no...

Jenkins: You’re more back to a normal shift?

Jones: Oh, yeah, definitely.

Jenkins: You mentioned looters. There were also other types of crime problems, gangs as well as price gougers. How did the police deal with this crime wave that seemed to rise out of nowhere after the storm?

Jones: (Laughs) As far as price gougers went, we had help taking care of them. Usually the people that would be the hoodlums running around wreaking havoc on Miami, they went and ripped off all the price gougers. Not all of them. A lot got away with it. Actually I have an interesting story about it. There’s this restaurant down in Cutler Ridge and they have low prices, $4-$7 type meals, kind of a stop and eat kind of Denny’s place…it’s not Denny s, but, after the hurricane, they were loading up trucks full of food and selling it off for incredibly high prices. Well, as it turned out, they got ripped off by all kinds of people so many times and…

Jenkins: I’m sorry to interrupt you again, but when you say ripped off, do you mean the trucks or the actual business, what are we talking about here?

Jones: The food was ripped off by people who were either angry at them for what they were doing, or by those who needed it. The restaurant got broken into and robbed, so they’re having a really hard time, and I’m glad, because they deserve it, and I know that I’m supposed to be enforcing the law, but I kind of gotta laugh, because I’m glad it happened to them than to the innocent.

Jenkins: What about the…would you say that the Radio Shack type looting was more gang related or was it just individuals just taking advantage of the situation?

Jones: It was a lot of both. The gangs are gonna do it anyway, whether there’s a hurricane or not. Other people are taking advantage of the situation thinking they weren’t gonna get caught, and a lot of them didn’t. People were ripping off cars from dealerships, and parts, and whatever they could get their hands on, and for many this was a first offense.

Jenkins: More like a crime of opportunity?

Jones: Rightjust taking advantage.

Jenkins: Do you feel that overall, the police did an effective job of protecting the area during the aftermath?

Jones: We did the best we could with the preparation we had.

Jenkins: That involves my next question. To your knowledge, did the police have an emergency or contingency plan for a hurricane?

Jones: No way. There was no way they could have, and if they did…

Jenkins: Sorry to interrupt you, but, do you know this for a fact, or is it just from deduction?

Jones: I don’t know for a fact, but if they did, it really didn’t work, or they didn’t put it into effect. It was a mess, we didn’t know what to do, who to listen to, and to be totally frank, we had police officers coming down from South Carolina who had been through Hugo, and knew what to do, whereas I was completely ignoring my superiors and just following along with what they were saying.

Jenkins: Ignoring your superiors?

Jones: Well, I wouldn’t say ignoring, but more turning an ear towards the police officers from Carolina, and just kind of doing my own thing as long as I could.

Jenkins: I take it that nothing really came out of that, there was nothing flagrant that you got in trouble for , was there?

Jones: Not at all, I’m sure my superiors learned from the South Carolina people, and I think that it’s pretty sad that we live in Miami and we don’t have anything to prepare for a major hurricane and even though we haven’t had one for the last 25 years that was damaging to us, we still live in Miami, we’re still in a very hurricane prone area, and we have to be prepared.

Jenkins: Do you think they have a plan formulated now, or do you think that they’re just going to trust experience to guide them through the next storm?

Jones: I don’t mean to sound disrespectful to the people who pay me, but, if they don’t have a plan drawn up, they’re stupid, they’re complete idiots if they don’t, and I think that if this were to happen again they should do things differently, and be more prepared and ready.

Jenkins: When you say different, you mean preparedness?

Jones: Yes, for the most part.

Jenkins: Considering this alleged lack of a plan, rate the police performance.

Jones: I think we did a top job, we did what we could and did our best.

Jenkins: Has Hurricane Andrew changed your perspective, the way you look at your job?

Jones: Yes, before we were the pigs, the ones everyone tried to hide from. We were looked down upon as scum in Miami, and maybe soon will be again. But I think with what we did during the hurricane we earned a lot of respect. People who would have been out breaking the law were actually asking us for help, and we were there helping people, and when you see somebody that hasn’t eaten in days, get some food, y’know, eat something that you’ve given them, it just brings, it’s hard to explain, a beautiful feeling.

Jenkins: Do you think this change will stay, or will it fade, and I mean this both ways. Do you think the people’s perspective will stick as well?

Jones: As far my feelings toward the people, we’re always involved with the bad side of the city. Just, y’know, dealing with petty crimes, big crimes, and we’re dealing with the scum of Miami. Seeing the good come out in people has changed my perspective. I’m not the bad guy anymore, I’m not the enemy anymore, and I don’t feel like the enemy. Now, as far as their feelings toward me, I think it will fade. I think that the, the gratefulness, and whatever they felt for us during the hurricane which was positive will fade, simply because the hoods will go back to doing what they always do. So, I just, I would like to be looked upon as a police officer, but we’re in Miami, there’s no way.

Jenkins: Do you see any visible changes in any of your colleagues as far as their perceptions of the people and the police role as well?

Jones: As far as their outlook?

Jenkins:Yes, what about other people, have they been changed, can you see visible changes in other officers?

Jones: In the ones I’m close to, but I can’t speak for everybody. I can speak for myself and a few close friends. But as far as officers as a whole, the police department, there’s no telling, I can’t speak for them.

Jenkins: Do you see the hurricane as changing law enforcement in Dade County in any major way?

Jones: I think that the people who are normally good citizens who dislike police officers, because maybe they got a speeding ticket five years ago, will now look at us in a better light. I think there’s a few people who were changed by it, but, like I said before, we’re in Miami, and, I may be looking at the negative side of things but I’m trying to be realistic. I can’t sit here and say that people will have a greater respect and will be so grateful and loving toward police…

Jenkins: I think you misunderstood my question. Do you think it’s going to change law enforcement, from a police standpoint?

Jones: I don’t think so, not really. I think in the same sense that in an emergency we’ll be better prepared, we’ll know what to do, at least the officers will know what to do. but I really can’t speak for law enforcement as a whole, but maybe they’ll go easy on little things…Jesus, what am I talking about?! That’s ridiculous, nothing will change when things are totally back to normal. I can’t think of any officers that will be lenient. I can’t think of citizens not going back to being the same. People forget quickly.

Jenkins: What positive outcomes, if any do you see as a result of Hurricane Andrew?

Jones: Positive outcomes? Well, for a short period of time, everybody was working together as a team, citizens, law enforcement, military, everybody, was a team. That was positive. You’d see a Cuban guy, a black guy, a Jewish guy, all working together trying to get to the same goal, and maybe some friendships have sprung up, maybe people are more conscious, and maybe people have learned now that you can’t just sit back and say, hey we’re in Miami, but we haven’t been hit by a hurricane in years, it’ll never happen again. People will be more prepared, they will have to be more prepared. If they aren’t they may as well get the hell out of Miami.

Jenkins: Do you think that these things will be longerlasting…enduring?

Jones: As far as the team concept, of course things will go back to the way they used to be, maybe in some isolated cases some friendships have sprung up, y’know but overall that would be positive, just seems: those few little things. People that suddenly reform, like, a white guy after working with a black guy, will suddenly not be a bigot – once a bigot always a bigot. People just don’t change overnight. A rich person can rebuild or move away. They’re not gonna keep in touch with that poverty stricken child and mother that were working alongside them.

Jenkins: What do you see, if you could hold a crystal ball in front of you, in South Dade’s future?

Jones: A lot of recovery and rebuilding. Years of it. What went on down, down there was so devastating, so horrible, that I don’t really think I can blame the people who left and just said forget it, I’m gone. So many people have left, so many businesses will never be as prosperous, even if they can rebuild. I think the Homestead area is not gonna be booming, not for years. My husband, for example, they didn’t have a little twobit nursery, he and my fatherinlaw. They had a huge, huge business going. It’s gonna take a long time, a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, and a lot of patience. And a lot of money, which a lot of people don’t have. I see years of recovery and trying to get things back to normal. I don’t imagine anybody down there who experienced losing a home and just seeing everything destroyed before their eyes, will ever recover completely.

Jenkins: Do you think it will ever be the same?

Jones: No, never.

Jenkins: Are there any special outstanding stories that stand out, that you could relate to us?

Jones: Yes, it’s a very sad story, and something I never want to experience as a police officer again. We were called down to, what was once a house. This man was just nuts, he went crazy, waving a gun around, you couldn’t understand half of what he was saying, and what you could understand was very nasty. And he lost everything in the hurricane, including his mind. We were the second car there, there were four officers surrounding this man with a gun, and we tried to subdue him, but we couldn’t. One of us could have been killed, we could have killed him…

Jenkins: How close were you to using deadly force?

Jones: A frog’s hair. It was very close. I don’t know if I could have lived with myself if I’d been the one to pull the trigger.

Jenkins: You would have been protecting yourself and your colleagues. What was in the situation that would have made it unlivable?

Jones: A week ago, that man was a normal guy going to work, living in his little house, watching his TV, and it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t take the pressure. He didn’t know what he was doing. Is that fair?

Jenkins: Do you have anything to add, anything you’d like to say as a closing remark in regards to, not only this interview, but to the situation you’ve experienced?

Jones: I just hope that this hurricane has brought people together, if anything. I want to look at the positive side, I know it’s hard for me to look at the positive side of things. I pray to God that people are more prepared, that people’s attitudes toward police have changed, and police attitudes have changed towards citizens. I pray this every night, I really want things to change. I know I’ve been very negative, and it’s just the way I see things, but I don’t believe all those outpouring of brotherly love throughout Miami is gonna ever happen. We’re in Miami…this is no Mayberry! I know I’ve been very negative, it’s how I feel, but those are my wishes. If anything good has happened from this hurricane, we’ll just have to wait and see.