My Ride-Along Experience
...d he said everyone has to be at least 21, a US citizen, have a valid driver’s license, pass a background check, and pass a medical physical. When he first began law enforcement, he wanted to one day work for the Secret Service but after the terrorism issues of September 11th, he changed his mind. His current goals are to patrol with Montgomery County for 5 more years to get the experience and then join a specialized local team similar to the DEA or the ATF. His department spends approximately 40 hours a year conducting in-services, where the officers go over common laws and police training. They also spend ten hours a year of specialized training in cultural diversity. Bryan works four 10-hour days a week, Saturday through Tuesday from 3pm to 1am. Most of his salary is from overtime from having to work later shifts and having to go to court. Bryan was very friendly and told me he actually volunteered to take me on the ride-along because most officers don’t like to do them. We left the station around 4:10 and he explained to me about the different areas the officers’ patrol and how the areas were called “beats.” His beat was part of North Silver Spring, which covered Piney Branch Ave until the DC line, University Ave until the Wheaton line, and part of New Hampshire Ave. We drove to the sub trailer of their beat which was their “mini” police station. It was very a small trailer and did not have any running water. He had to make a phone call and I went inside and talked with some of the other officers. As we were entering the trailer, two officers were leaving and one was carrying a M16 rifle. They said they were going to go conduct some target practice. After leaving the sub trailer, we randomly patrolled the area and looked for any potential criminal activity. Bryan informed me that I didn’t have to stay in the car when we got a call that it was alright for me to stick my nose in as he put it and find out what was going on. The first call we received was a domestic dispute in an apartment complex on Piney Branch. We rushed over there but two other cruisers had already arrived and resolved he issue. Apparently, the husband had hit the wife and flew the scene, but since he was gone, the officers couldn’t do much unless she wanted to press charges and she did not. She didn’t speak any English and there was a Spanish translator on the scene. We continued to drive around and there were no calls coming in at all. It seemed to me like Bryan was trying to find me some interesting “criminal” activity but I guess it was too hot out for anyone to want to cause trouble. He pulled a few people over for missing brake lights and I felt like he wouldn’t have pulled them over if he was alone. He also was running a lot of car tags, and he said he usually ran at least 40 tags a night. This one gentleman he pulled over because after he ran his tag number, it came back as the tags being returned to the MVA and him not being registered. The driver did have his current registration card which expired in 2006. He said he was supposed to turn his tags in but the let him pay a fine instead and he didn’t have to turn anything in, so the officer cut him loose. He explained to me that it probably a glitch in the MVA system. While we were patrolling, he told me that Silver Spring had the highest crime rate in Montgomery County because it was so close to the DC line and PC County line. He said in the past year that had been 10 murders already. We went to Starbucks and met up with six or seven other officers for a 20 minute break. The officers were talking and joking around like everyday people, and didn’t forget to include me in their conversation. While we were at Starbucks, they received a couple of 911 disconnect calls and a call for a man walking around only in his green underwear. They didn’t seem too concerned with that call because no one left in a hurry. After we left, he showed me a couple of hot spots where he would usually catch people congregating and this abandoned parking lot where people would go to “hook up.” We followed this van for a while because the driver looked suspicious and the officer thought he probably didn’t have a license. He ran his tags and the registered owner came up as being born in 1958 and the driver looked like he was 20 years old. He was Hispanic and gave the officer the same name as the registered owner and he did not have a license. Bryan figured he gave him a fake name to stay out of trouble so instead of giving him a ticket, he gave the owner of the vehicle a ticket for failure to show identification. Throughout the night, I thought Bryan was very professional in his job and his attitude was great, very friendly and eager to answer any questions I had. People get the idea that all police officers are arrogant and big-headed; Bryan was exactly the opposite. Since there weren’t hardly any calls going on, it gave me a chance to talk to Bryan and really get to know his job. When I asked what he thought of the community in which he served, by his vulgar response I assumed he would rather work somewhere else. He explained that there are both good and bad people and he tries to help out as much as can. He’s not out to get people and not looking to give them a hard time. He enjoys his job and he feels that the community needs a lot of work. There are a lot of narcotics and immigration issues in Silver Spring and being an officer, he can only enforce what he sees. He believes that everyone has a different opinion about the police and that truly depends on the situation. “Some hate us; some love us. But the majority, hate us.” I asked how his attitude reflects in how he performs his job. He said some days he enjoy...