Police Ride Along

At a training session, I happened to be sitting in front of an Avondale detective from our police department. We started talking about work schedules for some reason. I told him I really enjoyed working at night. He said he had a perfect job for me and invited me down to the station for a police ride along. He said I would be able to work all the night hours I wanted as a police officer.

I'd never thought about going into public safety but I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. Even in an economic downturn it seems like everybody is still hiring police officers. If anything, I could just check it out. So, I took him up on his offer and signed up for a ride along. I requested a female police officer because I wanted to get their perspective. If I was going to consider this field, I needed some honest feedback.

I went on my ride along on a late Wednesday afternoon. First perk of the ride along, I was in a police car in the front seat (not the back). I'd never been in one up to that point. I felt like a little kid checking out all the gadgets. Secondly, I'd never been that close to a police officer before but I kind of liked the way the uniform espoused authority. People saw us coming and they steered away from us; cars slowed down; business owners were extra nice and respectful.

The afternoon was pretty uneventful which was fine by me. I wasn't looking to be involved in a high speed chase or anything like that. In fact, the first thing I said to the officer was that she didn't have to feel like she had to make this exciting because I wanted to conclude the ride along alive and in one piece. We talked for most of the 4 hours. She showed me the area she covered. I asked her alot of questions and she was very good about providing personal experiences.

In the end, I was glad that I went on the ride along. I'm not looking to become a police officer anytime soon but it may be something I might consider later on. However, I definitely need to get in shape if I want to pursue this career.