Catching bad guys and serving the public in many other fashions was apart of the
daily routine for now retired 59 year old Police Lt. Steven Hall. He served on the
Providence Police Department for twenty-two year and has currently working in an
administrative position for the past seventeen years. Lt. Hall worked his way up in the
ranking system starting off as a patrol officer in 1972. He was promoted to Sergeant in
August 1978. Ten years later in 1988 he was again promoted but this time to the rank of
Lt. In order to serve on the force every officer must complete the proper police training.
The police academy consisted of physical training and classroom instruction. Training at
the academy lasted for about fourteen weeks which was extremely intense.
After graduating from the police academy Hall was assigned to a mix of both
foot patrol and cruiser patrol. Following a year on the job he requested a patrol car and
was a patrol officer from February 1973 until August of 1978. Lt. Hall went to Roger
Williams College and attained a degree in administrative justice which then followed his
promotion to Sergeant. When asked what was the most frightening experience he had
during his career Hall says, “In all honesty there was almost never time to get
frightened.” Afterwards looking back he realizes he was put in quiet a few scary
situations.
A common question asked when working in law enforcement is how to handle the
obvious risks that an officer could encounter by criminals trying to seek revenge. Hall’s
response was that he never encountered a criminal seeking revenge on either on him or
his family as many other officers have experienced. Officers are required to carry a gun at
all times, even when off duty.
Law enforcement is a definite passion for Lt. Hall who says “I love the chase,
chasing the bad guys.” In particular capturing rapists Hall says was extremely rewarding
seeing the victims faces when the offenders were caught. One evening Lt. Hall was
having dinner with his daughter and wife at a local restaurant and noticed a man was
walking to the bathroom. The man looked Hall recognizing him and says hey what’s
going on, Hall immediately recalled having several encounters with the individual and
had taken weapons from him. Hall laughs and says “not a pleasant experience when I’m
having dinner with my family.” He explains that law enforcement agents “have to deal
with that kind of stuff.” Officers are use to that kind of material and are almost immune
to the danger.
He says that being a Lt. was not as exciting as the role of Sergeant. The role of a
Lt. required more administrative work and rarely patrolment. When asked if he had ever
been threatened by criminals with any potential dangerous weapons Hall says “ I’ve been
stabbed in the side of the head, bitten badly a few times, almost lost a thump, had chairs
thrown at me and guns pointed at me” He was fortunate enough that no such encounter
ever resulted in anything life threatening. Lt. Hall loves the law enforcement he says “It’s
almost like being a professional athlete, you’re getting paid to do what you love, but I
would never encourage a young person today to go into law enforcement.” He explains
that it’s much more dangerous than it was when he first began in the force due to the
numbers and the wide variety of types of weapons which seem to be more available to
criminals presently.
Thankfully Lt. Hall never had to kill anyone when on the job but used force when
needed. Now a days he says its better because officers have pepper spray and tasers
which helps out enormously instead of having to use deadly force.
Along with the usual duties of a law enforcement there have been several medical
emergencies that Lt. Hall was confronted with and had to respond to. One of the most
interesting stories he recalls was when he was told to rush to Rhode Island Hospital and was given a little cooler with eyes in them. They were going to be rushed up to Boston
for an eye transplant. I found that story to be unusual for a police officer to encounter.
According to Hall the most troubling and frustrating duties that he was obligated to
perform were responding to crimes where children were involved. There was one case in
which Lt. Hall vividly recalls a father with a mental condition who use to like to play
with guns. The father pointed the 44 magnum at his four year old daughter, claiming he
was not aware the gun was loaded, shot his daughter and “blew her skull apart.” Hall still
has nightmares about the case and was able to charge the man with manslaughter. He
even was proud to be apart of helping out with getting a warrant and arrest for a serial killer.
My interview of Lt. Hall was extremely insightful and interesting. This made me
even more aware of the vast variety of situations that a police officer encounters during
his career. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing first hand of the many experiences that this
police officer had preformed throughout his career. It made me appreciate even more the
responsibilities and the limitless number of experiences that these men and women are
presented with during their career. We should all appreciate their dedication and respect
them for their courageous and incredibly important job that they inquire.
