Ride Along Night

May 9, 2009

C.P.A. (Citizens Police Academy) V.I.P. Ride Along with the SPD

After completing 12 weeks of classes @ the Citizens Police Academy for the Southaven Police Department we finished by doing a ride along with police officers for several hours. I had the honor of riding along with Sgt. Goff. He was very professional as well as informative and I had fun in the process. It was never boring even though there were no arrests we did get to go fast a few times :-)

I arrived at the SPD @ 5:30 for a 6:00 appointment. We were to ride from 6-11. Left the HQ shortly after 6:00 and headed out on patrol. Around 6:30 The call came in for a simple assault on a 14 yo white male. The suspect was not apprehended but was said to be a 16yo black male going by the name of Wisconsin. That's all the information given to Sgt. Goff by the victim at the time of the report so an arrest could not be made until the suspect was identified. We returned to HQ to file the report and then back out on patrol. The rest of the night was uneventful for the most part, mostly traffic stops and a few citations issued for speeding and improper equipment.

It was a pretty quiet night for the most part but interesting enough for me just the same. Gave me a whole new respect for what they do and the hours they put in to serve & protect the citizens. It's not an easy job and I'm sure they don't get the respect they deserve. They work 12 hour shifts and deal with all kinds of problems and many different people as well. I'm sure it can be very stressful at times as they are human just like the rest of us and they deserve our respect and gratitude.

I think it's a wonderful program for anyone wanting to learn what goes on inside the police department and on the job for these men & women of law enforcement. Most of the general public has know idea what these men & women deal with on a daily basis. These guys do a great service to our community and I feel more safer knowing there are people like them out there watching out for our best interest and keeping our communities safe.