Ride alongs

[gordon0084]

I just wanted to know if police departments would give ride alongs opon request?

[Dan]

Most do, I think, but there might be a age limit(18+ or something) in some departments. One department in my area, only does ride alongs during the school year.

[Charlie]

gordon0084--It greatly depends upon the department you have interest in riding with. A lot of departments have ride-a-long programs BUT, there are also a lot of them out there that don't! ;) I can only further support what has been said thus far. Your best bet is to contact the department you want to ride with and find out first hand IF they have a program AND, WHAT is their criteria or process for someone to participate in the ride-a-long program.:cool:

Remember: Everyone (LE Agencies) out there often does things differently and operate independently. Give 'em a call and find out first hand WHAT they do concerning this question.

Charlie

[Island_Girl]

I think ride alongs are ridiculous. It's no place for a civilian. Now, if it's a visiting cop from another unit, then I'm all for it.....but that person is trained for the possibility of something happening. I feel the same way about air shows. What the hell are these people thinking????? LOL

Just one opinion.

[Solego]

I agree, it's very annoying having some fat kid pushing all the damn buttons in my car.

[Island_Girl]

<wipes the juice from her keyboard that shot out her nose after reading Solego's post>


HYSTERICAL!!!!

[Stump]

Solego, give me a break, sir!!! I seriously think there is nothing that you actually like about people.
Hasn't someone in this life given you a break? If someone is interested in LE, they should be able to ride. If it can help someone get into the field, then let them.

[txinvestigator1]

Island Girl, Solego,

You are missing the big picture. Step outside your own little selfish world.

Ride-a-longs are probably the best way PDs have to enhance the support of the public.

RAs give the average citizen, whose only knowledge of LE comes from TV, Movies and the media, a real dose of real police work.

I actually had a RA tell me at the beginning of the ride that the only reason she was riding was to see why cops have such a chip on their shoulders. Well give me a challenge!!

I won't go into the psychology of it, but suffice it to say by the end of the shift she was a convert.

She even wrote me an atta-boy to the chief (really nothing I did, she just needed to express her deep emotional feelings about her change in attitude towards to men/women in blue).

You have the right attitude towards RAs, take the time to explain what and why, and you will have a fantastic way to increase your community support.

See Stump, we agree more than we disagree

[MR_TROUBLE]

Solego, if some "fat" kid is pushing buttons in your car then who's fault is it? You're a cop right? Lay down some ground rules for anyone riding in your car. Maybe you just don't want to share your donuts with anyone. Most civilians who go on ride alongs are polite and have no interest in causing a problem. Island_Girl....you saying that civilians have no place in a police car is like saying women have no place in law enforcement. We serve the public, they have a right to visit our stations and training centers, and they have a right to sit in our cars on occasion. Ride Alongs do more to educate the public than harm anything. As far as the safety of the civilian is concerned, there is more of a chance of them getting hit by a 18 wheeler on the way home from their ride along. In my 7 yrs as a cop in a high crime area...most of my brushes with death have been on the way to work or on the way home. Give civilians a break, we work for THEM and if they want to see what it's like out there....more power to them. Every civilian should go on at least one ride along. I suspect that cops who don't want civilians going on ride alongs just perpetuate and reinforce the "us vs them" stereotype. Freakin ridiculous!!

[Solego]

Apparently everyone has a Masters in Psychology here. I'm going to say it again, but I want you to not read so much into it. When you do, you make up your own mind as to the message I'm trying to convey, when in fact I'm putting it in plain text. Now, I must admit, I actually don't agree with not having ride-a-longs. I just skimmed over the previous message and percieved it to say what I was thinking, hence, making up my own mind as to what it said. So, I am now going to retype my message with the appropiate corrections so noone is confused about my opinion. Here I go.

It's very annoying having some fat kid pushing all the damn buttons in my car.

Having said that, I hope I have dispelled any negative perceptions you may have about me. SO BOOGER OFF!!!

[Solego]

Pimps

[Stump]

You are the most miserable, immature person I have seen here yet. I held my tongue long enough.
Solego, you do nothing in here except insult and belittle people. I find it hard to believe that you even made it to being a cop with your attitude.
First of all, calling people names???? If you are a cop, how does that mean you talk to citizens? The citizens that come in here have respect for the job that cops do. You can't even speak nicely or respectfully to the people who are in LE!!!
Secondly, this is not an "us against them". People are supposed to call cops for HELP. A cop is supposed to HELP PEOPLE.
You act like you are in an episode of COPS every day with chases and people shooting at you every moment of your shift. I have heard time and time again from the people on this forum that the job is 15 minutes of terror and 7 1/4 hours of boredom ... (or something like that).
I know you have zero respect for me and the work I do, but let me tell you something. I am a cop's lifeline -- if it weren't for me and the people I work with, every call you go to would be a cause unknown. I won't even go into all of that though.
You have not encouraged one single person here who has expressed an interest in LE. (By the way - yes, I have a psychology degree) You are so insecure that you cannot encourage someone to be a cop because it is such a tough job to get into that you want to be the "special" one. I have seen it time and time again. You have not been on the job that long, and the people you work with will not put up with that attitude in the long run.
Maybe you should learn a little more empathy for people. You haven't been at the job long enough to develop a hard edge like that.

[Solego]

There again you're reading too much into things. And besides, I really don't care what you think about me.

[locokarma]

Well, that is how I became interested in Law Enforcement... regardless of what ppl think about ride alongs.... If it hadn't been for being able to do so.. I may never have been interested in it. As for "fat kinds pushing buttons".... all of the officers laid down certain ground rules when I did a ride along.. so I knew what I could and could not do. I am very grateful to the officers that allowed me to do a ride along.
Just my opinion.

[pjm_744]

As a civilian, I think ride-alongs are WONDERFUL. If a cop has a problem with giving ride-alongs then he should talk to his superior and let him know that he doesn't want to have people ride with him.
As for kids pushing buttons....I agree with locokarma....When I went on the ridealong, I didn't touch anything the officer told me not to touch. I mean, seriously, how many people are just going to look at you and touch the buttons after you've asked them not to? Hello? I would hope civilians wouldn't be *that* stupid!! (Then again..... :lol)
The point is it's the officer's responsibility to lay down the law. AND, it's not fair for an officer to judge all civilians, even those truly interested in LE over some kid pushing buttons. Not everyone is like that. You don't like it, I'm sure, when the media labels all cops corrupt because of one incident.... Think about it.