Patrol

an emergency call

My foot kept pumping on an imaginary brake pedal the instant Officer Pat Keogh flipped on his flasher/siren, stepped on the gas, and began whipping through the city on our way to a crisis in Sector II. Everything on the streets that could move scrambled to part the roadways. It was like Red Sea waters opening up when Moses lifted his staff skyward creating safe passage for the Israelites’ exodus with Pharaoh’s chariots in hot pursuit. But this was not a Bible story, it wasn’t a video game, it was for real. 

Moments earlier a dispatch from HQ flashed an alert on Officer Keogh’s on-board monitor. The call was a medical emergency - a kid having dinner with a friend and parents at a neighborhood restaurant was acutely ill, dazed, and vomiting. After purging his system but still in a fog, the teen was sitting outside when we pulled up. During Officer Keogh’s face to face questioning he caught enough exhaled whiffs for him to make a field assessment - the kid was drunk. He and his buddy had managed to tank up somewhere before parents were on the scene. Cataldo Ambulance and local EMT’s also got the call and soon joined us. They confirmed this incident was from intoxication, not to be confused with a diabetic ketoacidosis episode. Reports were filed and the kid was released to parental custody. Mom & pop justice was sure to follow. Back in the cruiser we resumed patrol duty. Before the shift ended we fielded an acute anxiety attack and a few  traffic stops. 

But wait a minute, what was I doing riding along in a cruiser?

Here’s the back story: My neighbor Bruce was sporting a T-shirt with  Police Citizen’s Academy printed across the chest. “There really is such a school,” he assured me. "Not only that, graduating was the best thing I ever did.” Bruce is a smart guy so I took him at his word. I signed up and completed the program a few months later. The experience confirmed his prior endorsement. The class of close to fifty, ranging in age from a high schooler to folks well into their seventies, learned about all aspects of community police work, i.e., motor vehicle, drug enforcement, and constitutional law, 9-11 call center protocols, elder crime, firearms and use of force, patrol procedures, SWAT, and more. The class came away with a profound respect for the challenges, complexities, and yes, dangers of today’s police work. Another result was a shared sense that no municipal group in town knows the community as well as the police. From all the officers we met, it’s evident the department’s MO is concern for the welfare of all the city's citizens. 

Bottom line: Bruce was right. Police Citizen’s Academy is a valuable eye-opening program. It should be offered in every community and be part of every high schooler’s core curriculum.

Epilogue: Whenever I now see a patrol car or officer on the street, I have a newfound appreciation for what police do and the risks they take every time they put on a uniform and punch in for a shift. In today’s street climate even a traffic stop for a missing headlight can escalate to a confrontation. 

In policing, there is no such thing as innocuous and routine. 

an ‘innocuous and routine’ traffic stop

all images ©2016 David Greenfield

* Officer Pat Keogh is the name I assigned to my cruiser partner for this post.

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