Friday Night Cop Ride

I arrived at the police station at 8:30 for my cop ride. I went up to the dispatch window and the dispatch officer told me to sit and wait for the officer that I was scheduled to ride with. I thought that I would be waiting no more than 5 or 10 minutes, but I was way off. I waited almost an hour just to meet officer Phil and go along with him on his patrol around New Paltz. I went up to the dispatch person several times during the hour that I was waiting and she would not tell me what was taking so long. I almost felt like leaving the police station and going back to my dorm, but then officer Phil opened the door to the back room and apologized for the long wait. He said that he had to deal with a 14-year-old kid who he arrested earlier for marijuana possession and fighting on a sidewalk with another kid. He had to contact the kid's parents and wait for them to come down to the station. I saw them come into the station and they were clearly not happy to be there. They went into the back room while i was waiting by the dispatch window. I overheard some of the conversation between Officer Phil and them. He was explaining to them exactly what happened and that no charges would be filed against their son because he was a juvenile and he only had a very small amount of marijuana on him. Officer Phil gave the kid a lecture about obeying the law and then he let the kid and his parents leave the station.
Then, I got to check out the backroom and Phil showed me the small bag of weed he took from the kid. Phil showed me how police officers test a substance to make sure that it is in fact what they believe it to be. He took a tiny piece of weed from the bag and put it in a small container to confirm that it was weed. He shook up the container, which contained a clear liquid substance in it and the liquid turned blue. Phil told me that this meant that the piece from the bag was weed. He also showed me some other drug test kits for cocaine, heroin and a bunch of other drugs. I found this to be very interesting. We then went out for a patrol around the town in his police car. Before we drove out of the parking lot of the police station, Phil showed me all the cool gadgets he had in his car. I was amazed by all these high tech gadgets he had. He showed me the radar detector, the dispatch system in his car, and a camera that allows officers to view the backseat of the car when people that they arrest are back there. He said that he could record video with the camera also. Phil explained the different gagdets very extensively, which was great because I didn't know much about them. He also showed me a semi-automatic rifle which was behind our heads in the front seat. He said that he never had to use it in his two years at the New Paltz police department.
We then went out patrolling the town going along Main Street and the side streets around Main. Phil got gas and then we went down South Chestnut Street to try to bust people speeding along a quiet strip where there are no lights. Phil pulled into the parking lot of a closed store and we just sat there waiting to catch someone speeding. We were looking at the radar detector and talking for about 5 minutes when a car came speeding by at 47 mph in a 30 mph speed zone. Phil immediately put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot. We chased after the car and pulled the driver over. Phil got out and went over to the car. He had this device on him which recorded his conversation with the driver and I could hear most of the conversation from the police car. This was really cool. I felt like I was out there with him even though I was in the car. The driver conveniently did not have his license or registration, so Phil went back to the police car to look up his license plate and his name to see if he had any prior arrests. The driver did not so Phil just gave the driver a speeding ticket and a warning to drive safely. We then continued patrolling around town and responded to a noise complaint by the Southside apartments. The number of the building that the dispatcher told him to go to didnt actually exist. The dispatcher told him building number 11 but there were only 10 buildings and we didnt hear any noise, so we just left that area. We continued patrolling around the town a little longer, but nothing happened and then we went back to the station because Phils shift was ending. He said that he wished I could see more action during my time in the car, since it was a pretty slow patrol with the exception of the speeding ticket. I wished more things happened also, but maybe its better that we didnt respond to anything serious like a fight or a burglary. I also was not happy about my ride being cut an hour short, since I had to wait for an hour to start the patrol. However, I enjoyed my experience. This was my first time ever in a police station let alone a police car, so I learned many new things about being a police officer. Phil was very nice and talkative and he seemed like he was great at his job. I will definitely never forget my time in the frontseat of a police car.