Ride Along

6 Pages 1514 Words

I could never imagine how a day in the life of a police officer would be so demanding. My ride along experience with Austin Police Department ended up being exciting and intense at the same time. I was fortunate enough to get to ride the entire shift, which starts at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 4:00 a.m., pending on the paperwork completed at the end of the night. I was to be at the East Substation in Austin at 6:00 p.m. on a Friday evening. The portion of East Austin that was patrolled is District 5, Charlie Sector. I was briefly introduced to the Sergeant and Corporal of the overnight shift. At 6:30 p.m., the two officers conducted a meeting and with four other associate officers. They spoke about problem areas and complaints within East Austin. The meeting had a certain seriousness, but the entirety of the meeting did not last long and ended up on a good note with some officers making fun of one another and telling jokes. The meeting concluded at 6:50 p.m., and I was to be riding with one of the Officers at the meeting. He stood a tall, strong, and serious man with a certain intimidation in his eyes; and when compared to police personality in Chapter Six, he fit the mold.
It did not take very long after the Officer and I had gotten situated inside the patrol car that there was a disturbance call. Not too sure if I was allowed to get out of the patrol car, I sat inside while he and other Officers spoke to a man arguing and fighting at a city bus stop. It concluded with the man walking away from the area and myself being told to get out of the car on our next call. Shortly after that, another disturbance call came through the radio. A tenant was being evicted from her apartment and had yet to move out, so as in her lease agreement, the landlord remove the television set as collateral for her to move out and/ or pay the rent. The woman was extremely angered and frustrated so she began to cuss out the landlord. The Officer and I got out of...