The Meaning of Life/Salmon Bay Park/Tues May 4/12:26 am: On May 25, the gifted writer Officer Dain Jones, whose reports are often featured in this column, is having a reading/performance with local artist/writer/historian Stokley Towles. Jones is the Shakespeare of police reports; unlike most of his colleagues, Jones is sensitive to words, sentence structure, and details. For example, in a recent report concerning a suicidal high-school student, who was sitting in a park contemplating the meaning of life, Jones wrote: "He admitted he was depressed, but not because of any specific, recent event. He said he was always depressed. When I asked if he felt like hurting himself, he replied, 'It's gone beyond that.' He then pulled his sleeves back and exposed his wrist. It was covered with many cuts that were covered in dried blood.... The victim claimed he had cut himself with a razor while in physics class. He said he left the razor in the classroom, but when I searched him I found the razor in his pocket. AMR transported the victim to HMC for a mental evaluation...." Not only is the writing expertly paced, but also the sad tone of the writing seems to match, and therefore express, the sad tone of the subject.

More Jones/Golden Gardens Park/Sat May 1/7:15 pm: Jones writes: "...SFD Engine 35's crew arrived first and walked into the park and located the teens. These teens were located deep in the wooded area of upper Golden Gardens on a dirt path. According to Engine 35's crew, the victim was unconscious on arrival, with minimal shallow respirations and no gag reflex. Rather than wait in the isolated spot a long way from vehicle access, Engine 35's crew picked up the victim and began carrying him to the parking lot. There they were able to place him on a gurney, when Medic 18 arrived.

"According to 35's crew, the teenagers stayed until they showed up, then fled into the deeper, more isolated areas of the park without providing any personal information. Before leaving, however, they advised 35's crew of the victim's name and phone number.

"Other park-goers encountered the teens before SFD arrived. One witness told me that he saw the victim lying face-down in the dirt with vomit around his mouth and breathing shallowly. He opened the victim's eyelids but his eyes did not react to him as he waved his hand back and forth....

"Engine 35's crew walked me back to the exact location that they had found the victim. It was a brisk seven-minute walk north of the restrooms next to the Off-Leash Area. The only sign of this event was a rapidly drying wet spot in the dirt, which was where the victim had been lying in his vomit. There was no other evidence or debris of a party.

"When I returned to the parking lot, the victim was still unconscious and intubated. I contacted Sgt. Rogers and advised him of the victim's condition. He contacted Homicide Sgt. Vallor and screened the incident with him. Homicide declined to respond to the scene. The [teen] victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center's emergency room."