Ride Along

I asked the Chief of Police if I could go on a ride-along after the city's Director of Human Services suggested it to me. I eventually got a message from a Sgt Ryan to come to the station at 3:45 this Tuesday. I emailed him and asked if there was something particular I should wear. "Be comfortable," the Sargent wrote back, with a smiley face. I thought about maybe not wearing the bright colors I usually wear. I wanted to be less visible. I decided to wear black khakis and a black long-sleeved shirt and what I call my policeman's shoes, black oxfords.

I arrived at the station and was introduced to Sargent John Ryan. He brought me into the inner sanctum to sign a release form. "I'll have you wear one of these," he said, handing me a heavy black vest that felt like the lead apron from the dentist's office. "It's bullet-proof - the only protection we have." I was thrilled and put it on. It looked boxy on me but I didn't mind. It felt good. Sgt Ryan wore his under his uniform shirt. We headed out to the patrol car, a black Ford SUV. "You can sit up front," he said. I smiled. "Really? I was sure you'd have me in the back seat."

"I trained on a Crown Vic sedan which handles really well," Sgt Ryan said as we pulled out into traffic, "so these trucks take a bit of getting used to."
"But you're up higher," I said. I noticed the mounted laptop, the two-way police radio and the iPhone, all part of the cockpit. "All of this equipment on top of actual driving," I said.
"We now have a lot of young officers from southern RI, they're new to the city, so they're also using GPS."
"That's a lot to keep track of! And figuring out the dispatch codes, too."

We drove through a couple of neighborhoods, and then I realized he was headed for my neighborhood. As we drove through I practically ducked. Everyone here knows me! I didn't want the local drug dealers to see me.

At one point we drove through a car dealership's parking lot. It was well past closing. "They're nice people and they have a lot of expensive cars here and no security cameras so I usually make a point of driving through and checking the lot." It was all quiet. Then we headed up to Joblot. "There was an incident in their parking lot over the weekend. There was a car rally or something and 200 people showed up and there were a few fights. There's a lot of expensive equipment in the lot with the tractor store next door so I'm going to talk to the Joblot manager." We parked. "You're coming with me," he said. I walked next to Sgt Ryan in my amber sunglasses, smiling. My costume was working but my huge smile was probably giving me away.

The manager came out to meet us. "Hi, I am Sargent Ryan. We had some assaults and rowdy behavior during the car show over the weekend. We're concerned, especially with all of the new tractor equipment in the lot. We also had calls from neighbors complaining about the loud noise."
"Sir, we do not even want this car show happening in our lot," the manager explained. "We had nothing to do with it. I think they were having car shows here before we moved into the building. But now it's our property and we'd like to prevent the shows from happening here."
"Oh, OK. This is good to know. We can work on this with you before it happens again. We'll be in touch, thank you." We got back into the cruiser and continued on.

As we drove Sgt Ryan told me a story. "I grew up here in the city to a single mom, we lived in Morin Heights and I was given the chance to go on a ride-along when I was 11. Three of us boys who lived here wanted to go but both of them had already been in trouble with the law so they weren't allowed. But I was. As soon as I experienced it, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I started with dispatch and worked my way up. I'm ready for another step. I'd like to become a detective."

We drove through the city to Constitution Hill. We stopped and said hello to a toddler with her dad at the corner. "Beautiful day for the park," Sgt Ryan said. Then a code call came in. "What's a 10-32?" I asked.
"Kids in Globe Park might have a weapon. We'll go check it out." When we arrived we drove slowly along the park. We pulled up next to another officer. "There's no answer where the call came from," he said.
"The kids seem to be gone now but we can check a few other spots," replied Sgt Ryan.

Soon we received another call. This was for suspicious activity in another park. We drove around but didn't find a problem. The sun was about to set and I knew it would soon be time for my ride-along to end. That's when one more call came.

"My undercover detective is on the scene making arrests," Sgt Ryan said, "We'll have to check it out." There was some urgency in his voice, and he stepped on the gas. We arrived to see the detective in the middle of the street trying to hold down a young man who was struggling fiercely.

"Stay in the car. I'm going to lock you in," Sgt Ryan said, closing the door. Almost simultaneously seven police cruisers arrived. It was now dark, and the street was lit by streetlights and flashing police beacons. I saw an older woman with magenta hair shouting into her cell phone, "They wanted to arrest me, they were gonna arrest me!" She sat down on a nearby stone wall. Three young people in their 20's had been arrested and handcuffed behind their backs. I saw one placed into a squad car.

Sgt Ryan came back. "Sometimes I think people don't believe an officer when he is undercover and trying to make an arrest," he said. The uniform has power, I thought to myself. "The detective lost his cell phone in the scuffle so we're going to make a stop to see if these folks have it." We drove to Front Street and turned around in a multifamily back parking lot. Half the lot was dark and there was a wooded area above the stone wall. "Another notorious spot. I had my first foot chase back here."
"Not very well lit," I remarked. "What will happen to the people who were arrested?"
"So now the collars will get processed and have an overnight at the station."
"Will they get beds?"
"Cots. Not exactly the most comfortable conditions."

We drove back to the station. "I'm sad that it's over but thrilled that it was a great experience," I told him. I beamed as I handed back my vest.
"I'll be here all night writing up reports for everything that happened," Sgt Ryan said. "So feel free to call me if you have any questions."
"Goodbye, thanks so much," I said. I decided to walk home in the cool spring air.