James' TPD Ride Along - Friday, March 27, 2009

Hi All,

I wanted to share with you a very enjoyable (at least for me) ride along that I participated in on Friday night with TPD. This is my 6th one in the past 7 months and they get better each and every time. I have learned a great deal about all different facets of police work and have been very impressed with the professionalism and patience that all of the officers exude even when dealing with a belligerent drunk or a distraught motorist. Having gone on some heart-wrenching calls, it really makes you appreciate what you have in life and how important it is to live each day.

Patrol officers are on an 11-1/2 hour shift and work 4 days and then are off 4 days. The squads are broken up into "A Cycle" and "B Cycle." So, for example, when Cycle A officers are off, Cycle B comes on and vice versa. This particular day I was riding with a Cycle A officer from 2 pm until 1:30 am and loved every minute of it. We were not in the car more than 10 minutes when the officer received a request for assistance on his MDT (Mobile Data Terminal). Several probation officers asked that TPD accompany them to a house down the street where they were doing a check on a person currently on probation. It turns out that the individual previously boasted that there were weapons in the home to which the probation officer advised that they be disposed of immediately (as someone on probation cannot be in possession of any firearms). To check for compliance, the probation officers obtained a search warrant. Upon arriving on scene, the individual was handcuffed while the probation officers looked throughout the home (for my safety, I remained outside…darn). After an extensive search, several guns, a lot of ammo, and some drugs were found.

To make a long story short, we took the individual to Orient Road jail (now that is an experience!!!) and then brought the weapons, ammo and drugs to the impound lot for safe keeping. By now, it was almost 10 pm so we got a quick dinner and then hit the streets again. We went to several disturbance calls where the officer told people to either turn their radios or voices down. The last call was for a fight that turned violent resulting in one person being stabbed (the person was able to walk away from it however). By looking at all of the blood on the ground you would have thought otherwise.

If you are interested in doing a ride along even after reading my story (I have a bunch more), just send an email to our Neighborhood Affairs Liaison, Lisa Timmer at lisa.timmer@ci.tampa.fl.us and she will hook you up. If you really want to experience what it is like out there, do one. You will not regret it.

James