Not much happened on the traffic side. Most people were playing nice that evening, at least where we were. Deputy Becker was going to pull over a vehicle for speeding... 61 in a 45... but we were going the opposite direction and she didn't feel it was safe to turn around on the 2 lane road with no shoulder. (Something about being responsible for my safety... and it not being a good idea to end up in a ditch!) That's okay, it gave me an opportunity to pick Deputy Becker's brain about traffic stops and how to NOT get a ticket. I need all the help I can get in that department! Actually I didn't ask her that question but she did say that when running radar if someone is speeding but they slow down when they see her patrol car she won't pull them over unless it's an obvious violation and/or a safety issue and they don't attempt to slow down. You would think I would know that but do I slow down when I see a patrol car? Nope, not enough anyway. Guess that explains why I get pulled over as much as I do! She did pull over a Jeep for having a brake light out. I laughed about that because well... my last traffic stop was for a brake light out. And it so happens to be my favorite traffic stop. Here's why: Cop: Do you know you have a brake light out? Me: Do you know you have a headlight out? Cop: (looks at patrol car then back at me) Have a nice day! Admit it, you laughed (and yes I was wondering if I was going to get an opportunity to sneak that in to my blog)! :) Okay, okay, back to the ride along... Deputy Becker explained that if someone is getting pulled over for a traffic violation such as brake light out or other equipment violation it's so that the officer can inform the driver of the infraction. Often times people don't know. I didn't know until I got pulled over for my infraction. But also, it's an opportunity for the officer to run the drivers tag and license to check for warrants. Traffic stops are a good way to catch people with warrants that might not otherwise be found. The person in the black Jeep did not have any outstanding warrants so off they went with just a warning.
Because it was quiet and calls for service volume was low, we ventured over to the old closed down Coleman plant for a building check with another deputy. It was uneventful but necessary to make sure there weren't squatters there. It was an opportunity to get out of the car and walk a little bit.
Deputy Becker checked her Civil Paper list and we ran out to those residences. She actually went 3 for 3 on that so that was actually a good night for Civil. It creeped me out when we were at one residence and a neighbor walked up to see what was going on. I was playing on my phone and didn't see him until he had already approached the car. I locked the doors real quick even though he must have been about 80! I don't like being snuck up on. Probably wouldn't have bothered me if I had seen him coming from across the street. He didn't cause any problems though and Deputy Becker was able to make contact with the resident and serve the papers.
I tried to take the opportunity to ask questions as much as possible, one of which was what kind of calls for service do the deputies run. Not long after Deputy Becker replied that mental calls are common in JC, we heard the radio come on regarding a call for service on a possible suicidal subject. This wasn't in district 4 but if a deputy in another district needs assistance a deputy covering a different district may be called to assist. That's what occurred with this situation. When I heard her call number (radio call number? not sure I'm using the right terminology...) I knew to shut up so she could listen to the info being provided by dispatch. This particular situation included information about guns in the house so we went hot to the location. Hot as in lights and sirens for those who may not know. She drove quick but not 100mph quick (I snuck a peak at the spedometer a few times) since we were on 2 lane road rather than highway. The situation was resolved peacefully with the individual voluntarily going with deputies to the hospital for further evaluation. JC Mental Health was called in to assist via phone and recommended the transport. Kudos to everyone involved as that could easily have been a very different outcome!
Meanwhile... at the scene of that call I was hanging out in the patrol car like I was supposed to and next thing I know I see smoke....
FYI, when left alone in the vehicle while the officer is handling a call you have implied consent to exit the vehicle in event of emergency! Wish I had gotten a pic from inside the car when all the smoke started but I was too busy getting out to consider it. Do I get bonus points for turning off the car before I exited??? :)
Wonder if they will let me do another ride along? It wasn't my fault the car went up in smoke. I am bad luck though... (This counts as a fire right? If so, that makes 3 for the year and I can now quit worrying about the law of 3's.)
To finish the shift Deputy Becker insisted on a little additional training... if you haven't seen Trunk Monkey it's required training for all Citizen's Academy participants. Follow the link for your training: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5001/trunk_monkey_4/.
I need a trunk monkey! ...or at least this bumper sticker!
Deputy Becker was friendly, professional and willing to answer all my questions. Despite it being a fairly quiet shift, I enjoyed the ride along and learned quite a bit. Can't wait to do another one and see what activity occurs at different times of the day. With any luck, the patrol car will survive the shift...
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