One item on my writer’s bucket list is a police ride along. (That, and the citizens academy. I could never fit it around my kids’ schedules.) I finally found the opportunity to do the ride along through a local silent auction. You better believe I was watching my bid and making sure I won.
Here’s a recap of my day with the cops:
Police station tour
After signing the requisite waiver, I got a bonus tour. Even from when I first entered the station, I’d been impressed by the glass-partitioned reception desk in the lobby. Now I got to explore various rooms meant for conducting meetings and recording interviews. I even popped my head into the fancier offices for personnel.
Along the way, I was introduced to some fascinating folks, including a firearms expert, a digital forensic investigator, and the watch commander. I also visited the real time response center.
Armored Vehicle
In a special parking lot, we wandered over to our assigned vehicle. It was a hefty car, complete with an array of equipment in the back. These ranged from bulky weapons to a portable fingerprint scanner. Inside the vehicle, I was intrigued by the monitor, which displayed current police activity. While I had fun guessing at what the dispatcher was relaying, I appreciated that there was also accompanying text to follow along with the situations.
Driving around town
During my ride along, which spanned several hours, we encountered a physical altercation, a false alarm for a robbery, and a few calls about unhoused individuals. I did not actually exit the vehicle and stayed safe as we drove around. While in the car, I also chatted with the sergeant about the police academy, his first call as a patrol officer, and even police retirement plans. And you can be sure that I asked about a sticky plot point in my current WIP.
We ended the day back at the station, where I thanked him for his time.
Before we parted, he also offered to be a sounding board for future books. Oh, sergeant, you don’t know what you just agreed to…
What’s on your bucket list, writerly or not?
Chicks on the Case 
It sounds like a wonderful day. I bet research has never been so fun. Thank you for sharing your day with us!
Carol
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All the things we get to do for research, Carol! It was pretty neat riding along!
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What a great tour! I did a ride-along many years ago, but very little happened. We did get a call about stolen luggage. The officer with me told me to accompany him into the hotel. I stood off to the side taking mental notes. There was also a suspected B&E that turned out to be a false alarm.
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Stolen luggage? That’s actually quite fascinating. I didn’t even think about the police needing to drop by hotels.
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Yep. And it was quite a swanky hotel, too.
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Very nice!
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How fun! That’s the kind of thing that makes silent auctions fun. One can only win so many wine baskets. It looks and sounds like you learned a lot and made the most of your day.
My writerly bucket list includes a writing retreat in the mountains and a trip to the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT.
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At least you usually win those silent auctions! (My wins have been few and far between.)
That writing retreat sounds fabulous! Ooh, and Mark Twain! One day, I’d like to visit Agatha Christie’s stomping grounds.
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That is so cool, Jen! I’m so happy it was a good experience. My writerly bucket list includes a week in Key West to absorb Florida vibes for my Elmo Simpson Mysteries and attending. Bouchercon. Ellen told me that B’con is coming to Indianapolis in a few years, so I will have no excuse for missing that one!
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Hope you get to do Key West! Yep, Bouchercon is coming to your area!
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I did the citizens’ academy some years ago and the highlight was getting to DRIVE the police cruisers around the boardwalk parking lot at high speed! (Oh, and we got to hold a bag of heroin, as well. We had to wear gloves.) Good fun!
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Oh fun! I’m 4 weeks into my 15 week citizens academy and ohmygosh! It is fantastic! So far we’ve had a tour of all the departments, “from recruitment to the road,” patrol 101, crime analysis, dispatch, mounted patrol (with Officer Daisy Mae in attendance), victim advocates, and a community service officer talking about code enforcement in an hilarious manner. (We have a terrible sign code, so last night the officer said “Everything’s illegal, nothing’s allowed.” So funny!) AND they feed us dinner every week! Looking forward to class every week, but we’ll also get a ride along, and a day on the shooting range AND on the track where we get to drive police cars! Our “graduation” is at a town council meeting, which makes me laugh. Not sure I’ll go to that one! All I can picture is all the times I took cub scouts to a council meeting for some weird pat on their head. Not sure I need one for doing something I would have paid them to attend. ha! I HIGHLY recommend going if you can find one near you. Really informative and I’m collecting up all kinds of speakers for our Sisters in Crime chapter meetings!
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Your academy sounds so neat! A mounted patrol? All that, plus dinner? Can I audit?
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LOL! We’re all auditing the class, Jen!
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And yes, most jurisdictions in CO (the cool ones, anyway) have mounted patrols. She described how she can nab someone while on the horse. I bet that would be something to see! A lot of what they do, though, is community outreach. Oh! And she told us that horses can detect odors like K9s! Dogs can find a person, say, by smelling their scent, but horses can find a person by smelling just what’s unusual. The officer didn’t believe her horse could do it, but did it the first time in training and every time since. Really remarkable.
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Oh, you have to go to graduation–and post photos!
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I’ll take it under advisement.
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Becky, didn’t know you were doing this! What an awesome experience!
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Whoa! That sounds amazing, Leslie! (We talked not about heroin–but the dangers of being around fentanyl.)
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I’m dating myself with the heroin reference, as I’m sure now it would be fentanyl. Ugh.
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I hope they don’t let people handle fentanyl! yikes
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Sounds like a great day!
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Yes! Thanks, Mark!
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That sounds very interesting! A citizen’s police academy is on my bucket list. Haven’t been able to fit it in yet.
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Here’s hoping! And report back, Sybil!
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I’m so jealous!! Beware: I’m coming to you for all things police from now on, lol.
I did the Citizens Police Academy in 2014 here in L.A. Sadly, I don’t remember a thing I learned. However, the lone female detective who spoke to us inspired the character of Nina Rodriguez in my Vintage Cookbook Mystery series.
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Ha!
I have a friend who’s a police officer in the LAPD, and it was fascinating to learn about how recruitment and the general attitude toward women has changed (for the better) over the years.
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! This looks so cool and is definitely on my bucket list, as well! I have a friend who is a detective, but unfortunately he retired before I could do any kind of ride-along (or detect-along?) situation.
I was supposed to do a Stephen King tour a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t work out. (Long story.) Still on my list!
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Give me a ring when you’re ready for that Stephen King tour, Kathy!
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Jen, loved the recap of your ride-along! It’s so interesting that each writer has a different type of experience, depending on their local demographics and programs. And I’m so glad you didn’t get out of the car like all those ride-along writers on TV who are warned not to, lol. It never ends well. (Did you get a jacket that said “Writer,” ha? I’ve always wondered how people (criminals, fellow officers) react to those.) And Liz, it sounded as if you were perfectly safe at the swanky hotel!
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