All the time with my cousin. I have done just about everything you could on a ride along... fall asleep to assisting with the shotgun
-----Original Message----- From: Cameron Childress [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 9:58 AM To: cf-community Subject: My Night In Police Custody Has anyone else on the list ever done a police ride-along? I did one a few weeks ago and wrote it up for our local neighborhood newsletter. I thought I would share my writeup here in case anyone's interested... -Cameron --- My Night In Police Custody In all of the questionable adventures of my youth, I never had the occasion to see the inside of a police car. Finally though, in January I found myself in police custody - sort of... But maybe I should start at the beginning... Having lived in the neighborhood for a little over a year, I've just recently started to come to IPNA meetings. I've overheard people at the meetings and around town declaring that "something should be done" about this or that incident or crime. I've seen people posting in the Yahoo group, wishing "someone should do something". "Well", I thought to myself, "I'm someone, I wonder what I can do?". Like many others in the neighborhood, I'd heard Bill Hagen make the offer several times in email and at IPNA meetings, "Anyone can do a ride-along with the IPP (Inman Park Patrol), just get in touch with me". I'd been considering it for months, but travel and other commitments kept getting in the way. Finally, just after the new year I let Bill know I was ready. He put me in touch with Sgt Schierbaum, who worked with me to schedule a convenient time for me to do the ride-along. Within a week it was scheduled. I was to meet Officer Alejandro and the patrol car in front of my building, the Grinnell Loft building, just after work. My 2 hour ride-along began right on schedule, and it turned out to be a very educational experience about what the IPP does on an average shift. I got a quick orientation at the start of the trip. I saw the book that is kept in the patrol car, full of mug shots of frequent offenders, some procedures, a list of homes to do walk-arounds on (part of the vacation patrol offered to IPP members), printouts of emails that the IPP has received from residents, and some other stuff I've since forgotten. Also in the car was a notebook where officers log shift notes to share with each other. As Officer Alejandro flipped through the notebook I saw that on one page in giant letters the words ARRESTED! I wondered to myself what the story was behind the arrest, but I was only 3 minutes in and had plenty of time to ask questions, so I sat back and listened instead. Next up in the orientation was instructions on what to do in case of trouble. I was asked, "Do you have a cell phone?". I did have a cell phone on me, and in case of a tussle, I was to use it - not get out of the car to help. Officer Alejandro, a spitfire from the Bronx, assured me that she could handle herself. Later in the trip I would ask her how many times she'd had occasion to get into physical confrontations in her career as a police officer. Her answer "At least 30 times, and only once was with someone smaller than me". Okay, I thought to myself, I'll just stay in the car. Off we went - we patrolled areas of IP that I didn't even know about. We drove through Little Five Points, behind townhomes, and into nooks and crannys. As it got dark, she shined flashlights in cars and along roadside areas frequented by "random folks". I got to see some of the hidden places that people tend to hide out and loiter. We even got out (it was okay, there was no tussle happening) and did a walk around the pond in the park to make sure no-one was "setting up shop" and doing a little urban camping. We did extra rounds near spots where car break ins had been increasing in frequency lately, but we didn't see any broken windows or catch anyone in the act. I learned a bit of jargon as "the crack", a term she used to describe the empty and sometimes overgrown spaces between our neighborhood and the next. While writing up reports, she usually tried to be in a visible location or in a spot like "the crack" over near Freedom Parkway and the railroad tracks behind the Highland Steel Apartments. During our ride, she spoke to several people who were walking around the neighborhood, usually starting out just by engaging them in conversation. Just by talking to someone who may look out of place, she was able to produce body language and verbal responses from then that helped her figure out whether or not she should get out of the car and speak to them in more detail. Twice she did, later writing up reports detailing the conversation and information about the individuals. Officer Alejandro constantly noticed details and people before I did. I can't count the number of times she pointed out a person walking along the side of the road or in an alley before I'd spotted them. I guess being a police officer trains you to see details that other people don't see. Details that residents may not notice. Details a non-police security patrol might not notice. During one of our stops, another marked APD (Atlanta Police Department) car stopped by as well, interested in the same person we'd stopped. The IPP car was in the middle of the road and some cars were trying to get by. One of the officers from the APD car walked over to move the IPP car out of the way, chatting with me a bit as she moved the car. Suddenly she stopped and said "Wait, you aren't with the police are you?". That's when it occurred to me that no-one we'd stopped so far knew I wasn't a police officer - not even other police. I thought to myself - is seeing two people in the patrol car more impressive to potential criminals? I don't know, but it might be. Finally as we wrapped up the stop, the APD officer came back over to the IPP car one last time, asking me this time "Are you with the neighborhood?". She pointed to the two houses we'd stopped next to. Their interiors were bathed with light and flickering with the images from giant screened flat panel televisions. "See those TVs inside that house? Well, so do criminals. Can you please get the word out to your neighbors that they shouldn't leave their blinds open like that?" I assured her that we are working hard to help keep everyone informed. As we continued to patrol around the neighborhood I took note of how many houses really do have valuable electronics clearly visible to passing cars. There were alot. If you are reading this article - consider yourself informed. Close your blinds, move your TV into a less conspicuous spot or room. Do what you need to do, but don't advertise your valuables. We answered a few other calls during the trip, including a domestic dispute that came in over her radio from police dispatch. Since all the patrol officers in the IPP are off duty Atlanta Police, they have police radios and can take any call that comes across the radio. In this case, Officer Alejandro responded to the call, telling dispatch to cancel the other officer who'd initially taken the call. We were right around the corner and got there in minutes. I stayed in the car while she went inside to investigate. She came back out about ten minutes later, telling me that she's asked one of the two people involved to leave the property. We drove off, but came back by minutes later to make sure the other car had left - it had. Several times we drove behind some of the townhomes and condos in the neighborhood. Twice stopping because a garage door was left open. She said to me "These doors are never left open, so I'll stop and check it out anytime they are". During one of the stops she hoped out for a second and knocked on the door inside the garage to make sure everything was okay. As we drove away I looked back to see the garage door closing. As it got close to the end of my 2 hour ride she asked if I wanted her to drop me back off at my building, but the ride had been so interesting I told her I was fine with staying along longer. All told I was in the car four hours. Towards the end of the ride a call came in over the police radio about a mugging in a neighborhood across the MARTA tracks from Inman Park. Another unit was already responding but we headed over to the area anyway, parking the IPP car on the Inman Park side of the MARTA stop to see if the suspects fled into Inman Park or into the bus terminal. We didn't see anyone fitting the description, but kept our eyes out for 15 minutes or so before heading off for more patrolling. Finally, it was time for me to head home. Dinner was ready and I was getting text messages wondering when I was going to come eat. My stomach was in agreement, so my ride was over. Officer Alejandro dropped me back off at my place, I thanked her for the ride-along and we went our separate ways. My experience with the Inman Park Patrol was enlightening and one of the most unique and interesting experiences I've had recently. I would encourage, even challenge, everyone in the neighborhood to consider doing a ride along at some point during 2009 so that you can see the day to day manifestation of IPSP's (Inman Park Security Patrol) fund raising and organizational efforts. It helps you understand what exactly it is that the IPP and IPSP do, it helps the officers get to know the neighbors they are protecting, and it might just let would-be criminals see that we are serious about "doing something". Massive kudos go out to Bill Hagen, Sgt Schierbaum, and everyone else on the team who's gotten Inman Park to where it is today! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:287789 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
