What Else Happened

We went to a call on the expressway involving a rear-end collision. Following field interviews and a motor vehicle accident investigation, citations were issued for following too close and expired license. The officer was able to issue the citations and have both motorists still like him. A report was generated in the computer and sent to the sergeant for approval.



The officer responded to reports of a break in at a local warehouse. I was allowed out of the car when we arrived, but he must have expected a tense situation since I was told to stand by outside as he investigated. I was later invited in to find the warehouse occupied by marines from Dobbins Air Reserve Base shipping Toys for Tots. I listened to the conversation between my host, a marine and former designated marksman, and the marines from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. My host and I later had a conversation about military service, which I will not go into detail about here.



Later, we went to investigate a car parked in front a house. It was on the side of the road with the cabin light on. A door was also unlocked. The officer ran the licence plates and locked the car. Attempts were made to notify the owner. The car was left there. I asked the officer if he could see himself driving a Ford Taurus all day and he said he could not. I then informed him that the City of Atlanta Police Department was considering it as its new interceptor and he said he couldn't believe it. In the next post, I will wrap up my discussion on this ride along and move on to other things.

Basically What Happened

I am prohibited from posting the tactics of the Marietta Police Department. So, I will go through basically what happened on patrol without going into too much detail. First, we drove around for some time. The officer says he prefers traffic operations. He said officers are free to focus what they want to focus on in their beats so long as they are working. He said some officers like to conduct traffic operations on the expressways, some like to concentrate on drug activity, and others like to conduct business checks.



This particular business is the Big Chicken. It is a landmark in Marietta. All directions are given in reference to the Big Chicken. We responded to our first call in an apartment complex in regards to two thefts from vehicles. Afterwards, the officer responded to a call for back up on the expressway, but the call was canceled. The officer gave directions to a confused motorist near one of the expressways.




We went to another apartment complex. This time, the call involved an eviction. The officer said evictions can sometimes be a pain. A sergeant later showed up in a 2WD Chevy Tahoe. The officer said that the Tahoe was paid for with money surrendered by drug dealers under apprehension. Earlier in the shift, he took me through one of the drug-ridden neighborhoods.



He said some people appreciate their presence in these neighborhoods and some people don't. He also said that, usually when they don't, there's some sort of racial reason for it. He also said that the SWAT team sometimes conduct saturation operations in these neighborhoods. In my next post, I will talk about other things that happened and discuss my questions to the officer.

Marietta Police Continued

The Marietta Police Department is located at 240 Lemon Street. I was instructed to go to the front desk and tell the clerk I was there for a ride along. My ride along was scheduled for 1530 to 1930 since there is a delay due to shift change. This ride along took place on the 13 DEC 2011. It was clear that I was to divulge no tactics and take no video. I was also instructed to save their phone number into my phone.

As you can tell from my simple phone, I appreciate the simple things in life. That's why I appreciate the simplicity of travel to the Marietta Police Operations Station. To get there on time, I caught the 10 CCT at 1300 and transferred to the 45 at 1415. It dropped me off at Cherekee and Lemon. I headed East on Lemon, turned right onto Cole, left onto Roswell, right onto Fairground, and then, left onto S. Marietta.

I was surprised to find that the Marietta Police Department is on the campus of a school. I suppose the children there are well behaved. It also shares a building with the Marietta Municipal Court. I was allowed to observe roll call. Obviously, I cannot tell you what was said in roll call. However, I can tell you that the Marietta Police Department employs at least one crime analyst.

The denied area of the police department includes a locker room. This seems to be, by far, the largest police station I've encountered. We rolled out then fueled the car. The cars are fueled at only two locations. One is the public vehicles yard and the other is the fire station. Both are close to the police station. In my next post, I will comment on basically what happened during patrol and the questions I asked the officer.

High-Risk Traffic Stop

I continue my discussion on my first ride along with the Dunwoody Police Department by describing a high-risk traffic stop. A BOLO for a stolen white Ford Explorer was called in and the patrol supervisor stopped the vehicle and requested back up. Without hesitation, my host went code 3. With that said, when you see an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens activated behind you, you should either move to the right if you can or stay where you are so the vehicle can weave between you and other cars.




When we got there, I was told to stand by as my escort and the rest of the police department drew their weapons on the suspect. My escort made a point for me to notice the following things. One, every police officer has each others' backs and two, at least one police officer always keep a gun on the suspect while the other makes the arrest. The suspect turned out to be a repo man. Afterwards, a use of force report had to be filed. Such a report is filed whenever an officer draws or uses his or her weapon against a suspect.



The Marietta Police Department also have plenty weapons, a fact they state on their website. My escort carried a .40 cal. Glock with a tactical light, but he did not carry his back-up weapon, also a .40 cal. Glock. The back-up weapon doesn't have a tactical light. The fleet patrol vehicle has a gun rack in between the driver and rider's seats. However, my escort preferred not to use it because it malfunctioned at a critical time. He prefers to keep his 5.56 mm. S&W in the trunk. In my next post, I will turn my attention to other aspects of my ride along with the Marietta Police Department.

Dunwoody Police Continued

The LT said that he could see police cars having heads-up displays in the future and when I got inside of one of them, I understood why. The car has a shotgun rack on the roof in front of the cage. In between the seats is a place to store a digital camera and beverages. There is a radio, stereo, and computer. The computer is linked with a licence plate recognition system. There is also a printer and a console for controlling lights and sirens. It is also worth mentioning that the Dunwoody Police Department allows each officer to take home his or her car, which reduces maintenance costs. The officers are given cards to pay for fuel. The cars become operational for deployment as soon as they reach the Dunwoody city limits.



So, let's get to the questions I asked the officer. Which shift is best to work on in your opinion? He said it doesn't matter. How are the overtime and advancement opportunities? He said he don't want to do overtime because he would be working too hard. He already has to wake up at 0430 to be to work at 0545 and he sometimes have to stay late.

 

I could probably fill a couple of blog posts on the police actions I observed over the two days. However, I will limit my post to just a couple of them. The first was a low-risk traffic stop in a school zone. The officer parked near the flashing lights of a 25 mph school-zone sign. He used a hand-held radar gun to clock a passing car as speeding. The officer pursued the vehicle with lights only as not to scare other motorists. When the car stopped, he called it in to dispatch. He walked quickly to the driver, checking the trunk on the way. He obtained the driver's license then returned to his vehicle. He used the computer to check the license then wrote a ticket. He had the motorist sign the ticket then told her she could safely reenter the traffic flow. He then reported his status to dispatch as code 7, which means a traffic ticket was issued. In my next post, I will discuss another incident and then start my discussion on my ride along with the Marietta Police Department.

Dunwoody Police Department

At first, I had a hard time finding the physical location of the Dunwoody Police Department, but I later realized that it is in an office building across the street from Perimeter Mall. The entrance to the lobby appeared to be locked, but it actually wasn't. The lobby has comfortable seats, carpeting, fliers, a duty roster, children's toys, a gift donation box for children's Christmas presents, as well as various plaques and posters. At 1319, I was greeted by the LT who set up the ride along and he informed me that my ride was en route, but things can get a little hectic. He asked me if I had any questions and I answered that I had none.



Later on, I got to have a conversation with the LT. He explained to me that there normal shift assignments and rotations are the same as those of the Kennesaw State University Police Department's. He also explained that this rotation is the norm for small police departments and that it is beneficial for officers as well. The officers can request two days off on their short weeks and have seven-day vacations. Obviously, it is a busy department based on the time it took for the officer to arrive and I witnessed this with my own eyes. I also came back on the weekend, which is even busier.



At this time, we discussed the cars. They are the ultimate adult toys. I love the sound of the engines. They are Ford Crown Victorias. The LT said, since their cars are relatively new, the department has the advantage of waiting around to see how the newer ones perform. They have tested the Ford Taurus but he said they didn't like them because they were not big enough for their larger officers. For this reason, the Dodge Charger and Chevy Tahoe will probably be the preferred replacements when the time arises. In my next post, I will continue my discussion on the cars and move on to other aspects of my ride alongs.

Ride Along Continued

I can write about the truck we were in all day, but I think it is important to get to the questions I was invited to ask at the start of the ride along. What are the normal shift assignments and rotations? The sergeant said the shifts are 12-hours long and they change at six. The rotations are a two-week cycle. On the first week, an officer works MTFSSu, and the next, he or she works WR. Is it a busy department? He said weekends can get busy, but M-R are the most busy. Which shift is best to work on in your opinion? The sergeant said when he was young, he preferred nights, but now he prefers days.



How are the overtime and advancement opportunities? He said this is a platoon-sized department and advancement opportunities exist; after all, he did make sergeant. He also said overtime opportunities exist for sporting events via sign-up sheets. We started motor patrol through campus including the parking decks. He explained that they cover an area up to 500 yards off campus. My three hours and 30 minutes of motor patrol were fascinating. However, I decline to discuss them in detail here due to the sensitive nature of some of the conversation and events. However, he did want to dispel one myth, which I will pass on. He said some people think the police want to hurt them, but in reality, the police resort to force as a last resort.



I witnessed an example of this concept first hand and hopefully, I will get to witness more. My ride along with the City of Dunwoody Police Department has been set for Friday from 1300 to 1700. I am to meet the officer in the lobby of 41 Perimeter Center East, Dunwoody, GA 30346. I am in contact with a LT in the Marietta Police Department regarding that ride along. In my next post, I intend to report on the Dunwoody ride along at the very least and hopefully report on setting up the ride along with the Marietta Police Department.