Book 'Em Dano

Day 12: Police Ride Along

What would our cities be like without the fine men and women behind the badge to maintain order?  I can't say as I know the answer to that question and after my new experience for today I don't know that I want to know the answer.  Whatever your opinions of local law enforcement may be I encourage you to try going on a ride along like I did this morning.  It is certainly an unpredictable and eye opening adventure.  As you read the following please be advised some of the names may have been changed to protect the innocent (or else because I just forgot them).

My commanding officer was Roger Tesoro.  He's been on the force for 17 years.  After a quick briefing to alert me to certain procedures and safety precautions we were ready to hit the streets.  Our first call of the day was to take a report about a stolen car.  Not very glamorous, I know, but certainly a good way to ease into life on the beat.  Next was a call about a possible home invasion.  We were first on the scene, so once backup arrived we went in with guns drawn to secure the perimeter.  Okay so WE didn't go in, all the officers did and I stayed in the car and watched, but it was still exciting!  In the end there was no one there and it was much ado about nothing so it was off to the next call.  This time it was a welfare check.  The caller was worried because he hadn't seen his elderly neighbor in a few days.  But alas, there would be no dead bodies here today, as we spoke to the neighbor the woman in question came to her door to see what all the fuss was about.

Up next was a man named Danny that we would end up seeing quite a bit of as the day progressed.  He was our third call, and then after choosing not to heed the warnings of the well meaning officers he became our fifth call as well.  Thanks to his not-so-recreational drug use he was, how shall I say this, one grape short of a bunch, a few cards short of a full deck, not the sharpest tool in the shed.  However you say it, his deficiencies caused him to be completely unaware that handing out candy to children in a store might tend to make people a little uncomfortable.  He did make for some colorful conversation though.  While officer Flores (who's haircut Danny was particularly fond of as he kept telling him, "nice haircut, I like your haircut man") got some background information, officer Tesoro took the opportunity to get to know our perpetrator a little better.  He noticed that Danny was wearing a Lakers t-shirt so officer Tesoro asked what the Lakers are, to which Danny responded, "They drive boats on the lake...the Sea of Galilee."  I suppose I should explain that Danny professed to be a born again Christian and said "God bless you" with every breath.  While only God truly knows where his heart is at, his religious views certainly made for a more entertaining day.

We had a couple other minor calls that we responded to and then we got it, the call every ride-alonger dreams of.  There was report of a 415 (code for a fight) and we were going code 3, that's lights and sirens baby!  The excitement was over by the time we got there, but as they say, it's about the journey not the destination.

So my day ended with a little excitement.  I got to see a good mix of a little of everything. I found out that there's no need to get excited when you see about half a dozen cop cars in one location, because no matter what the call is, they pretty much all seem to show up. I also discovered that cops speak an entirely different language.  I understood more of the conversation when they were speaking in Spanish to a victim than when they were speaking English to each other.  But, more than anything, I learned a lot more about the city I call home and a little about the people who keep it safe.