Leo Chiang DOT COM

Before I got into the film industry I wanted to become a police officer, I even wrote and passed the RCMP police exam. I held back because I wanted to join the Vancouver Police and also wanted to see how my career would go in the private sector. I was a senior manager in a local Loss Prevention company, then left for a coveted position as Security and Safety Officer at the ultra fancy, AAA, 5 Diamond hotel, the Pan Pacific Vancouver. I left the hotel when I was offered a full-time status position as a senior Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) and trainer for a local chain of mega-box stores. I quit my full-time status for part-time in favor of giving my acting career a try, and I’ve never looked back.

Unfortunately, my acting career is not as regular or reliable as I’d like it to be so I still work as an LPO once a week and I call in for shifts if I’m free. For those of you not familiar, Loss Prevention Officers are basically plain-clothed store security with the training to arrest and detain people committing criminal acts. The acting gigs have been dry for months and I still have bills to pay so I asked for a shift to work today. I never expected it to be so exciting.

The day started out real slow and I was also treated to a partner, which I almost never get because the bosses know I can take care of myself. Today the partner came in handy as we had our hands full with a 280 pound gorilla of a shoplifter who didn’t want to get caught. He basically stuffed his backpack with about $300 of merchandise and fled the store. He refused to comply and come back peacefully and was physically resisting arrest. My partner (he’s a good guy, but a little one) and I basically had to ride this beast until I finally gave him a few knee strikes. Down he went onto the pavement as we wrestled with his arms in order to put the handcuffs on. Got the handcuffs on and got him off the ground, which wasn’t easy for us while he’s trying to fight, then he had to constantly pick on my partner with verbal abuse. Only cowards pick on the little guy.

He constantly tries to persuade us to remove the cuffs but, for our safety, we refused. He whined that they hurt. Good. Shoulda thought of that before he stole and resisted arrest. I read him his rights and everything then he started complaining that he couldn’t breathe. He said he was having an asthma attack. He demanded a paper bag to breathe in!?! At this point I called bullshit. I have mild asthma too and you need oxygen, not a paper bag to restrict your breathing. My partner fetched a plastic bag. The criminal gets mad and states that a plastic bag won’t work, it HAS to be a paper bag. WTF? So I call the ambulance to cover our asses and we get the guy a paper bag. As an actor, I can see a bad one pretty quickly. This guy couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag, pun intended Long story short, the fire department arrives (they always arrive first for some reason) with four guys, then the ambulance service arrives with two ambulances and four paramedics. So there we are: 2 LPO’s, 4 firefighters, 4 paramedics, all crammed into a small office and hallway. Your tax dollars at work here. The police haven’t even arrived yet and this punk, who already cost the store $300 in merchandise, has footed the tax payers several thousand dollars in wages.

As I expected, the paramedics could not find anything wrong with him but he demanded to be taken to hospital. I release custody of him to the paramedics and I inform the police (who still haven’t arrived) that he is going to Burnaby General. The police call me back later to tell me that he ran from the paramedics as soon as they opened the ambulance doors at the hospital. They caught him eventually, but I hope they let the police dogs have a few chews at him first.

Posted on March 8th, 2007 by Leo
Filed under: Lucid Thoughts