Officer Peter Jacobson is a 15-year veteran of the Madison Police Department, and he is damn good at his job. His colleagues will tell you that the 37-year-old is the first person behind his desk in the morning and the man who turns out the lights at the end of the day. He takes his job seriously because he knows that if his family is going to get fed he has to be the best cop he can be. That's why Sunday morning he made sure to crack heads extra hard.
Picking up yet another overtime shift to put food on the table for his wife and three children, Jacobson worked State Street during Halloween weekend with about 400 other area officers. Knowing that doing the job right can only improve his home life, he went out there showing riotous revelers who is boss.
'It's a thin line between doing my job right and not doing it right and getting thrown out on the street,' Jacobson said. 'I think about that every time I spray some random person in the face with pepper spray.'
Late Saturday night, doing 'what's right' meant walking the calm streets and staying vigilant. By early Sunday morning, that meant knocking some out-of-towner's teeth out and kicking some freshman in the side with his size 12 boot.
'I'm just here to save lives, collect my modest paycheck and go home to my wife and kids,' he said, while rubbing a 26-year old graduate student's face into the pavement on the 500 block of State Street.
Back at the city's Halloween command post, Jacobson's partner Tate O'Neil could not agree more. He has worked side-by-side with Jacobson for ten years and can attest to the thoroughness of his work ethic.
'I've seen him with his family... the guy has got a heart of gold and would do anything to keep them healthy and safe,' O'Neil said. 'That is probably why he is out there tonight pepper spraying innocent reporters, shouting obscenities and scaring young women.'
At 2:30 a.m., Jacobson was among the first officers to don riot gear. Coolly looking side-to-side, he spotted a young man taunting two regular officers, asking them to give him the 'Halloween treatment.'
Almost instantly Jacobson gave the wise guy what he asked for. First, pepper spray in the eyes, followed by a firm crack of Jacobson's night stick across the back of the head, finished off with restraints around his wrists and a trip to jail to top it all off.
'Officer Jacobson is one of our finest men,' Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said. 'I've had dinner with his family before... great people. He's out there with his life on the line every day just so they can live a better life. If I had 10 dozen of him, Halloween wouldn't be as nuts as it gets.'
The night finished less chaotic than previous years. Despite the crowd's estimated record size of 100,000, State Street escaped serious property damage and almost everyone went home without too much fuss.
'It looks like we all get to get out of here a little bit earlier this year,' Jacobson said with a bit of relief in his voice. 'The missus will like that.'
As one of the last people on State Street hurried past Jacobson, he stopped the partygoer and with one swift slap knocked the young man's recently purchased Qdoba onto the ground. 'I love my job.'
