My night with WFPD

No, I was not arrested on New Year's Eve! : )

As my friend Casey explained to someone that just couldn't understand why we'd want to do a police ride-along on the biggest party night of the year, "we've been to house parties, clubs, been with boyfriends & without boyfriends, been sitting at home alone--why not ride with cops on New Year's Eve?"

Thus was the thought process of our New Year's Eve plans. Last year we headed to a swanky club in Dallas (where I forgot to bring my freaking dress so there I was in jeans and a green fleece--but I still had a great time). This year we had NO plans and as Christmas quickly approached, Casey suggested we do a ride-along.

Now I thought ride-alongs were just for Alums or current members of the Citizens Police Academy, but as it turns out, ANYONE can do a ride-along. Just be prepared for them to do a background search on you.

We were told it would take a few weeks to process & get approval so we signed up a week before Christmas. We knew we wanted 3rd shift (11pm-7am) and had decided the Eastside beat was where it all the action would be. We were told by several different officers that Eastside was actually pretty quiet & if we wanted to be where the action was, to sign up for Downtown or The Hill (by Old High).

I called on Monday to check on the progress of the paperwork & was told it hadn't been approved yet. So with just two days left, Casey & I started making other plans (plan B: Kiowa Casino, plan C: OKC to go sledding in Bricktown). Casey called Tuesday and hers had been approved. I quickly called & was told mine had been approved as well! Oh happy day! Actually I wasn't as excited as I thought I'd be. Which kind of freaked me out a little since I'm all about doing new and unusual things. Maybe it the was the girl in Records who was less than enthused about my ride-along getting approved & gave short answers to my questions of "what do I do now? Where do I need to go?" Casey had some info from the woman she talked to (like what to wear and what NOT to wear) so that helped some.

Yesterday's T0-Do list contained a few items: work all day 8-5, do show & cut spot 5:30-?, take nap 6:30-ish, do ride-along 11pm. I was pretty on-target all the way up to station stuff. I actually finished 15 min head of schedule and headed home to get in a nap so grouchy Meg wouldn't make an appearance around 2:30am. I was almost home when I got a text from Casey that her & the 'rents were at Cracker Barrel and I was invited. Well, I love to be included and am self-diagnosed ADHD so I did a U-turn a block from my house & headed for some food. As soon as we were done though, all I could think about was getting some sleep.

I didn't sleep well. George was acting unusually clingy as I laid there trying to fall asleep. He crawled up right next to me, licked my face and laid his head down on my chest. I think I got maybe 20 min of sleep. After consciousness returned, I realized George was freaking out over the fireworks being set off in nearby neighborhoods. That worried me alot. I had visions of him managing to get the back gate open & running for the hills. Or worse...the VERY busy street a block away. Casey noticed I wasn't myself either as we headed to the Police Department. I just felt off.

10:15pm: My giddiness quickly returned as I picked up the phone to tell the lady behind the bulletproof window that we were here for our ride-along but I was so out of breath from the stairs, I started giggling because it sounded like I'd been running for help or something. We filled out another form and gave her our driver's license's in exchange for an official Ride-Along Badge! We chatted in the lobby till a little after 11pm when the doors flew open and two officers came in.

10:40pm: I'd been assigned to Officer M on the Downtown beat and Casey had Officer B on Southside. Casey on the other hand, wasn't that excited. We had talked about how one of us would probably have a great, action-packed time while the other was driving around investigating calls on strange people in alleys and hanging out at Stripes. Well, I knew I was the former! : )

11:10pm: Ofcr M & I jumped in cruiser and took off. And by "off" I mean "fast"! Holy cow that guy liked to drive like I like to drive but he could do it legally : ) We tore down 8th street and drove past all the downtown clubs including Rendezvous, The End Zone, Simba's and Odd's. All quiet in Falls Town. Ofcr M and I were definitely NOT on the same sense of humor level and I was having a hard time reading him so I tried to pose my questions to be as less annoying as possible. He seemed very professional and analytical which wasn't the ideal setting for bringing out the real me. He drove me around the perimeter of the Downtown beat which I thought was pretty large but he said was the smallest beat in town.

I asked what the craziest thing Ofcr M had ever seen or experienced while on duty. He said a cabbie flagged him and Casey's officer, Ofcr B down to tell him about a fare he'd just dropped off at this house downtown. The fare told the cabbie that he thought he'd just killed a guy and asked to use the cabbie's cell phone where he called his boss & told him the same thing. So Ofcr M and Ofcr B went to the motel where the guy was staying and sure enough, there was a dead body in the room. So they went to the house were this guy had been dropped off but he wasn't there. Well, another cabbie caught wind of what was going on and called in that HE'D just picked up that guy from the house & taken him to Wal-Mart. So every cop in town decended on this Wal-Mart and caught the guy--gun in pants and blood on his hands. This happened about a year ago. Where the heck was I?

11:40pm: Ofcr M & I met up with his partner at the MPEC parking lot. I wasn't really happy to see how few cars there were for Party in the Falls although the pics in Times Record News sure made it look cool. Officer M's partner, Officer R was very funny in a dry sense of humor way and was better known as, The Shit Magnet. Another officer pulled up on the other side of Shit Magnet so I couldn't really see or talk to him. Then another officer pulled up on my side. He was pretty handsome and I guess his job was to hand out the DWI's because he said if we saw anyone that looked drunk to hit him up. While we sat there talking, I checked my phone & Casey had texted: guy with knife at camelot. That was at 11:20. It was now 11:50 and I'd done & seen NOTHING exciting.

11:50pm: Another officer pulled over someone at 5th & Burnett, right next to where we were talking, so Ofcr M decided to back him up. Turned out he didn't need backing up but when he got back in the car, dispatch told him about a traffic stop from one of his sergeants several blocks away so we decided to back him up. This guy & girl were driving with no lights on and were pulled over. She had on a tank top and capri's...and no shoes. The guy was kind enough to put his arm around her but never gave her his hoodie. Jerk.

Midnight: I rang in the new year sitting in a patrol car watching a couple officers asking questions and taking a looksee in & around their car and listening to fireworks going off all over the place. Apparently they were clean, so we left and cruised around the neighborhood. We came upon a sparkler or some kind of firework in the front yard with a couple teens standing by. We turned the corner before we got to the house but we drove around the block and when we came back, just a few seconds later, it was like nothing had ever happened--no teens, no fireworks. Ofcr M said fireworks are the least of their worries since there's so many other, bigger issues. Which I was about to find out.

12:30am: We responded to a call of an assault at the Wal-Mart parking lot. A woman had been punched in the face & someone took off with her one-year-old. We sped over to the house that belonged with the car in question and found the kid with the baby's daddy and his friends/relatives standing in the front yard. Baby daddy was handcuffed and put in the back of the car. Him in the back. Me up front. Ofcr M talking to perp's friend or sister outside. He was quiet for awhile but then started talkin' crazy about how it was his birthday and he just wanted to be left alone with his family and he just wanted to see his daughter. I convinced myself that he was talking to himself until he said "Miss female, your husband looks like a good guy, could you just tell him I just want to be left alone..." I just continued with my text messages to Casey: "i'm alone with a perp. perp is talking to himself. perp is now crying." She was across town with a guy who had threatened to kill his wife. He's a hunter and had lots of guns and she had locked herself and the dog in the bathroom. I had heard dispatch calling about that and was sick to my stomach about the dog. At 12:31, Casey texted: "I'm a little scared right now." Thankfully the guy decided to make good choices and came out. At 12:34, she said, "shooter is handcuffed : ) I feel safe. this is the best new year eve ever."

1:00am: Ofcr M & I took our perp to jail. The whole way over, this guy's saying some of the most colorful curse words and nastiness I've ever heard. I almost wrote one of his insults down because it was so original. I was FINALLY able to get out of the car once we were inside the jail garage area. As I watched Ofcr M fill out paperwork, another cop car came in & out walked....the handcuffed hunter. The cop took him to the holding cage & came over to start his paperwork and I immediately asked how the dog was. He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about so I filled him in that there was a lady & her dog locked in the bathroom for dear safety. He just laughed & said he knew me but didn't know from where. We took our perp into jail, Ofcr M did some more paperwork and headed out. Casey and her cop came in right as we were leaving.

1:30am: We patrolled the bars some more & then got a call about someone that was trespassing at the Flying J. Apparently you can get banned from gas stations. So we hauled down Jacksboro Hwy, didn't find the guy so Ofcr M and his partner shared info on their favorite flashlights.

1:47am: We were called out to Brenda's Bar for a fight outside the bar. Ofcr M said it was probably gang-related which kind of scared me. When we got there, there was a guy who directed us over to where the fighting was. I, again, had to stay in the car while I got to watch all the drunk party-goers stumbling around. Again, no one wearing a coat. What the freak?! I looked over at one point and saw my Ofcr and one of his partners walking back, very calmly, and there were angry-looking people all over the place. I realized how scary it must be to be in a situation where there are alot of people that may not like you but you have to obey the law and serve and protect. Then I noticed Ofcr M had locked me in the car. Then I got a little more nervous.

2:15am: We went immediately from Brenda's, down Jacksboro Hwy again, to Crazy Horse, to investigate a call on a guy who refused to leave. Apparently he doesn't know the 2am song "Closing time, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here..." Weird. What did he think he was going to do? Make a pallet behind the bar? Once we got there, the guy in charge said pallet dude had just left but there was something going on around the side of the bar. We drove over & saw a girl screaming in this guy's face. Ofcr M & his partner went over & talked to them for awhile. Apparently the girl was trying to leave & the guy wouldn't move his car so the girl got out & slapped the guy. Stupid waste of time.

2:30am: Received a call about a high speed chase involving two vehicles over in the Eastside. We crossed beat-lines and saw that one of the vehicles was already pulled over & being heavily questioned so we mosey'd onto Lincoln looking for the other one. As we were rounding a corner, we were almost hit by the other car. Ofcr M flipped it in reverse and stepped on the gas. I grabbed the "oh shit" handle and was very nervous about not being able to see where we were going. Thankfully the guy we were chasing didn't put up too much of a fight & pulled over down the street. Ofcr M pulled his gun as he approaced the car and the driver seemed pretty cooperative as he got out & let Ofcr M handcuff him. About 2 seconds later, FIVE other patrol cars came screaming up for backup. Ofcr M came back to the car for something & told me I could get out if I wanted. I was SO excited to finally be outside outside! A few seconds later, I heard gunshots. Ofcr M had just been telling me that folks will call 911 to report gunshots fired when it really turned out to be firecrackers. But I knew it was gunshots. I didn't say anything but I knew I was right when the cops started looking at each other. Then all hell broke loose on the radio. I texted Casey at 2:59 that someone had been shot at The End Zone. She texted back at 3:00 that she & her cop were on their way. It seemed like forever but looking at the text messages we exchanged, it really happened quickly. Right after the shots & the reports from dispatch, most of the other officers left for the shooting but we had the guy in handcuffs. I was SO anxious that we were missing out on the ride-along event of the year! Ofcr M said the last time shots were fired & someone had been hit, it turned out to be more than one person that had been shot. And that the cops were shot at too. Ofcr M had called in to Records or whoever runs background checks and the guy was clear. He claimed he'd been jumped in the parking lot of a club and now everything was cool. So Ofcr M cut him loose & we hauled ass to The End Zone. Faster than before. But he still stopped at every sign & light.

3:03am: Arrived at 8th & Indiana and couldn't get anywhere near The End Zone because every other patrol car in town was there. The building across from the Flea Market blocked my vision to see what was going on on the other side. Ofcr M jumped out, locked the door & took off around the corner. I just assumed I'd be staying in the vehicle : ) Casey was three patrol cars ahead of me & right in the middle of the street so she gave me play-by-plays of the crowd standing around, the big gun that one of the officers had and her officer telling her the guy that had been shot probably wasn't going to make it. As the ambulance rolled past me, I could see the EMT giving compressions which was cool but freaked me out a little. I just sat in the car watching folks walking around the corner in their mini-skirts or walking into Club Rendezvous or driving by real slow. I saw our old friends driving-without-lights from earlier in the evening. I was glad to see the guy still wearing his hoodie and she had finally found shoes. It seemed like forever but about 3:30am, Casey's officer came over to get me and said he'd give us a ride back to the Police Department.

I turned in my Ride-Along Badge in exchange for my driver's license and almost felt like telling the girl I had the time of my life but she didn't look like she wanted any conversation. So I figured I'd tell y'all! Here's what was listed in the paper: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/jan/01/police-investigating-nightclub-shooting/

You think you know what it means to be a cop because you can SEE what they do on COPS. But this was really an eye opening experience on what they deal with and how they deal with it. I really respect the men & women in uniform so much more after spending a measly 4 1/2 hrs with them. They're young (Ofcr B is only 24) and, to me, seemed brave and in control of every situation I witnessed.

Sorry I haven't developed the Art of Brevity yet. It's on my to-do list.