Recently I went on a “Citizens Ride-Along” with a friend who’s a part time Cop in a very small town in Oregon. It was a whole different feeling at night, seeing the flashing red and blues pulsating off the hood of the white Impala – instead of in the rearview mirror.
It was fun! You “zap” oncoming traffic, turn around when you “get” someone and see what the new Chevy can do.

We pulled over a handful of speeders on the highway into town. We also made as many stops for “Equipment violations”, usually a burnt out license plate light. “Barney” explained that the most effective way to catch drug dealers in this area is by traffic stops.
He didn’t write any tickets-just warnings and was very polite with every stop.

We served an arrest warrant later that night for “failure to appear”. We found the house and parked down the street. I had the sense to wear Black that night. Some good that did. We cautiously approached the house in the dark. We creped up the driveway in order to see who was in the living room watching TV. We got close enough to see that it was an older couple and then the motion detector turned on the floodlights. It was time to knock on the door. After some cleaver word deception, Barney got Fred and Ethyl to admit that it was their son we were looking for. He was out of town for a while, taking care of his invalid brother. They were told that it would be much easier on their son if he turned himself in and we wished them a good evening.

Our last duty was a “Stake Out”. A local teen was rumored to be violating a conditional drivers permit. This pissed off the “Chief” so we sat for half an hour outside the high school dance waiting for the kid to get into his Bronco. He never showed. He must have been tipped off.

One interesting note: Do they practice profiling? YES. Its just common sense. It’s not based on prejudice or racial hatred. It’s based on experience. Barney has experience as an MP and as a prison guard; he knows what to look for. He is not going to risk his life or the welfare of his community because someone may be offended by the principles behind his actions. (In that part of the Country, people are mostly profiled by income. Is this prejudice against low-income people?)

If you get a chance to ride with a Cop- Take it.

RobVG