Yesterday, someone threatened me and my family.
Not anonymously. Not vaguely.
He had singled me out, claimed to be a Cal Poly graduate with maritime expertise, and spent considerable time helping me answer highly specific maritime questions.
His background was false.
His work wasn’t.
The information was detailed, useful, and often remarkably good. Until it wasn’t.
Yesterday his texts turned violent.
Turns out he has a long record of arrests, the latest from an arson-related protest. Looking back, I suspect he had been spending hours using AI to answer obscure maritime questions, then synthesizing the material in his own writing style.
Not to become a maritime expert.
To become credible to me.
For the record I’m being purposefully vague and changing some details but I want the broad strokes out and a broader lessons shared:
This isn’t my first threat. Most are anonymous and impossible to trace, leaving police little to work with.
One previous threat became serious enough that the guy drove hours trying to find me for a fight but gave up somewhere along the way.
He turned around.
This guy was different.
He wasn’t hours away.
I sent a few details to a friend at a law firm. He started digging and quickly discovered the man was on parole for attempted arson. The court record photos matched.
So I called the police.
The dispatcher initially sounded skeptical and a little surly.
Then I read out the worst messages.
The tone changed immediately and said an officer would call me back.
Officer Gonzales asked excellent questions, took meticulous notes, explained exactly what I should do, gave me his card and an incident number, and said officers would maintain heightened awareness in my area.
He also told me my report gave additional credibility to an anonymous tip they had already received.
10/10 police work.
According to public court records, this man was convicted only a few years ago after trying to pour gasoline on someone while holding a lighter.
Now he’s back out.
There are limits to what police can legally do before someone crosses another line. That frustrates me.
I guarantee it frustrates most cops even more.
And that’s really why I’m writing this.
We usually meet police at bad moments: traffic stops, accidents, threats, fights, crime scenes.
They can be gruff. Suspicious. Extremely direct.
Sometimes they get things wrong. It’s easy to look at a “defund the police” post and think back to a bad interaction with the law.
But remember: the officer meeting you has no idea who you are.
You are a stranger.
And strangers sometimes kill cops.
My father-in-law and two friends from college died in the line of duty. One suffered a stroke. One was shot during a routine traffic stop. Another was struck and killed on the highway.
I’ve handled major emergencies aboard ships, and one bad incident the bosun told me:
“You’re normally patient, but when the alarms start ringing, you turn into a real asshole.”
Not really.
Actually I tend to get calmer and more relaxed.
I just become extremely direct.
And that’s with a crew I know and trust.
Imagine doing it with complete strangers, knowing they may be armed, violent, intoxicated, terrified, lying.
My crews were honest. Most people, even innocent ones, being stopped by police are not.
So if you have a legitimate concern, call the non-emergency number or walk into the station.
You probably won’t want to. You may have a bad taste in your mouth from previous encounters you’ve had with surly cops.
Don’t let that cloud your judgement and prevent you from asking for help.
Because behind that gruff dispatcher or suspicious officer on the highway is an entire network quietly working back at the precinct.
Their hands may be tied by the law.
That does not mean they are doing nothing.
Most would much rather help prevent a violent crime than arrive afterward to investigate one.
To the LEOs like Officer , doing that quiet work nobody sees:
Thank you.