Ride Along #2 - JCSO Citizen's Academy

I did my second ride along today (Tuesday May 22, 2012).  Ride Along #2 was more interesting than Ride Along #1 with exception to the patrol car fail of course!

I rode with Deputy Becker again.   She tolerated me the first go round so I figured why not ride with her again since she said I could come back and ride with her anytime.

The day started with the captain at roll call giving me crap about the patrol car fail during my first ride along.   He asked if anyone had a car they wanted taken out of service.   I guess it's good to be remembered!   Wonder what memory will last longer, the patrol car going up in smoke or winning the cone killer award?  Deputy Becker had to mention the cone killer award in roll call!  I don't think the captain wants to see me in roll call again.   He did laugh though when Deputy Becker said she was going to find some orange traffic cones and let me drive so I think he was kidding about seeing me there again...

April 23, 2012 - "Patrol Car Fail" during First Ride Along

May 21, 2012 - "Cone Killer" Award presented at Graduation Ceremony

We ventured out to District 5 which is the eastern portion of the county. Deputy Becker made a few traffic stops today. One was for a hefty fine of $237 for doing 34 in a 20 (school zone).   He actually said thank you!  He wasn't wearing his seat belt either but only got a warning for that.   Guess he didn't realize that's only a $10 fine (versus the $237 fine he got for speeding).   Can't say I've ever said thank you for receiving a ticket!!!   Turns out the driver works for a lawn service that a fire fighter owns.   We stopped at a fire station for a bathroom break and it happened to be the station that fire fighter was at.   It was one of his employees that got the ticket.   He asked us about the traffic stop and was good humored about it.

At one point we were stopped after delivering civil papers so that Deputy Becker could finish some paperwork.   I was bored so I was looking at stuff in the passenger side door.   We heard a thump and she asked me if I found something interesting.   Yep!  A big black Labrador dog had jumped up on the passenger door to say "Hi".   He was quite friendly and just wanted to be petted for a bit.  I tried to get a pic but we had to head out and I missed my opportunity.

We responded to an accident where a young teen driver had rear ended a vehicle.   She was really nervous and clueless!  So much so that she almost caused another accident while leaving the accident scene after being released by Deputy Becker.  Lucky for her, her father was behind us and didn't see her almost have a second accident.  Looked like she would be getting in to enough trouble for the first accident (Dad was NOT happy!).  She certainly didn't need a second to fuel his fire.  She managed to contain herself long enough to not cry at the scene.

Another traffic stop was for expired tags.   I didn't know it was a $300+ ticket in Johnson County! Guess I have even more incentive to break that bad habit!   Not sure how many times I've been pulled over for that and not had to pay a fine.  Damn, I've been lucky!!!   Might be a good idea to quit pressing my luck with that...  Deputy Becker asked when I expire this year.  Uh oh...  Doesn't she know I already have enough trouble avoiding one deputy when I am stupid enough to play that game, I don't need two to avoid!  Probably should get it taken care of early this year just in case... 

FYI...when stopping for food or a bathroom break hit the bathroom first!   Almost didn't get to use the facilities when I really needed to because I ordered my food first.  Got a call and I had to ask if there was time to hit the restroom because I really needed to go!   Oops!  It wasn't a hot call so Deputy Becker let me use the restroom while she grabbed our lunch.   We ended up finding a park later to eat at between calls.

Dogs must be attracted to Deputy Becker.   Another dog wanted all kinds of attention from her when she was trying to clear a house alarm call.   He was a friendly pooch and returned promptly to his owner when called.   That neighbor then came over and we chatted while waiting for Deputy Becker to finish up.   He was glad to see the Sheriff's Office in the neighborhood.   Said he feels better about the neighborhood when they patrol it. 

I never thought I would say these words to an officer..."Quit being so damn nice!".  It took us forever to get out of QT because Deputy Becker was being friendly and chatting with everyone.   She said at one point that she gets stopped a lot to chat with people so I couldn't resist making the too damn nice comment.  She is actually very friendly & professional which is why I requested to ride with her again.   I enjoyed both ride alongs even if they weren't the most exciting in terms of activity.

Speaking of exciting...the check engine light came on and I quickly said it wasn't my fault.   It went off a few minutes later with no harm done.   Whew, can't imagine how that would have looked if another patrol car went up in smoke with me in it!   I might have become the first person from the Citizens Academy to be banned from doing ride alongs!   I haven't done the overnight shift yet so for my sake I was glad it turned out to be nothing.

I must have looked bored because during one call for service Deputy Becker said to feel free to play with the buttons in the car while she and a detective were inside a residence and I was left unsupervised in the patrol car.  She meant the radio buttons and I behaved for the most part.   I didn't cause any harm so no foul right? :)

A few stops were made for stop sign violations and a couple speeders including one woman who almost rear ended us.   She was having a medical issue.   Deputy Becker had her get out of the car to determine if she was safe to drive.   She was let go with just a warning after it was determined she was safe to drive (she was heading just up the street from where she was pulled over).

No arrests today but that's okay.   I picked up a few tips about how to not get pulled over and even one excuse I might have to try next time I get pulled over!  :)   I know it didn't seem like I was paying attention but I was.  I probably shouldn't say that since I'm sure that wasn't Deputy Becker's intention but she did laugh at my stories and admission to being a cop magnet!   Today was a busier shift than my first ride along.   No patrol cars or cones were harmed during this ride along... Would like to do at least one more.   Haven't done the overnight shift yet so that will be my next request.

Thank you to Deputy Becker for putting up with me again today!

Ride Along #1 - JCSO Citizen's Academy

I completed a ride along with Deputy Becker on Monday April 23, 2012.  It was actually a pretty quiet shift other than the patrol car fail (see below).  We were in District 4 which is basically 179th South to County Line and 169 Highway East to Pflumm.

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.)

We had to hitch a ride with Captain Brown in order to make it back to Operations.  En route a call came across to assist another deputy with a traffic stop.  Captain Brown asked if we were in a hurry.  Not that we really had a choice so off we went to that traffic stop where Captain Brown and Deputy Becker assisted with an arrest on an individual driving with a suspended license.  Once done there we ventured back to Operations.

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!

Thank you to Deputy Becker for keeping me entertained!  :)  

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...