I spent last night in a police car

For Several years now, I have been very interested in a career in Law Enforcement.  I have taken a criminal justice class, tried out for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District Police Department, and spent countless hours online looking at various police department websites comparing hiring requirements, the number of specialized units each department has, etc.  I have also taken a semester long class in Criminal Justice at Merritt College in Oakland. 

Last night, however, I got an opportunity to ride along for four hours with the Humboldt State University Police Department. 

The officer I rode with was Rodney Dickerson.  In an effort to be respectful, I started calling him "Officer Dickerson" but he told me, "Call me Rodney."  After filling out some paperwork, basically promising not to sue the department or the university if I got shot, I joined Rodney in the back of the station, where he and a Sergeant were going over some law books, trying to figure out under what circumstances they could and could not arrest someone for possessing alcohol.  This was actually quite interesting as the discussion covered some hypothetical situations and got somewhat philosophical.  I looked around the room to see what I could see.  Each officer has a desk and it was easy to see whose was whose.  Rodney, a football player, had a huge picture of a football game over his desk, while another officer had some hunting stuff over his desk.  I've talked with this other officer and I knew exactly whose desk it belonged to.

After a few minutes of conversation, Rodney told me "Let's Roll."  We walked out of the station and into the patrol car.  Over the next four hours, we would go all over the HSU campus as well as the city of Arcata and I think I got a pretty good handle on what it is like to be a police officer on campus.  We did a traffic stop, an arrest (who had to be taken first to the hospital and than to the Humboldt County Jail in Eureka,  and an assist of a young girl who got off the Greyhound at the wrong stop.  Several things amazed me:

• The amount of activity in a small four hour period (I was in the car from 11pm-~3am)
• The level of cooperation between UPD and the City of Arcata Police.  In fact, they share a radio system.
• the amount of communication that goes on between an officer and a dispatcher.  It is quite high.  Rodney was talking all the time with the dispatcher, alternating between his cell phone, his in car radio, and his belt mounted radio

My favorite part of the evening was standing on the Arcata Plaza (where all the bars are) with Rodney, two officers from the Arcata Police Department, and three or four officers from the Humboldt County Sheriff.  The officers chatted it up about shifts and other officers and that kind of thing, but it was clear they were there to be a visual deterrent (something to note for my nonverbal communications class.)  One of the Sheriffs Deputies had gone through academy with Rodney and there was some sharing of memories. 

I have gained newfound respect for Rodney and the UPD.  I hope to go on another ride along, perhaps at a different time with a different officer at a different time to get a different view of the way things work.  And someday, maybe I will be taking other folks on Ride Alongs.