The Forty Days

How have your interactions been with your local police recently?  Have you gotten a ticket that you’re still peeved about?  What about that drunken bar fight that you got arrested for, huh?  Still mad about that, are you?  What’s that you say?  You’re being investigated for murder??!!  Well, that’s not good.  Why can’t the police just leave us alone, huh?

A lot of people have flat-out negative views of police officers.  The Austin Police Department (APD), in particular, has come under fire in the past few years for several instances of deadly force against minorities.  Having been a law clerk for two federal judges during the past two years, however, I have seen many criminal cases where officers have protected and served their communities and enforced the law in an honest and dignified manner.  I have also seen cases where police officers have acted outside the bounds of the law.  Although many of us have set opinions about our local police, few of us really know much about what it is actually like to be a police officer.

I intend to find out.  Tonight from 6:30 pm to 4:30 am, I am riding with an APD officer in Central East Austin.  (Note: Anyone can ride with an APD officer–just visit APD’s website and find the “Get Involved in the Community” section.)

6:30 pm:  I am paired up with my officer for the evening, Officer A.– a rookie and ex-Marine who was part of the initial invasion of Iraq, one of the first to enter Baghdad, and present when the statue of Saddam Hussein was brought down.  Bad.  Ass.

6:48 pm:  We are ready to hit the beat.  I explain to him and his shift commander that I intend to blog about this experience.  The shift commander gently explains to me what I should not take pictures of.

8:40 pm:  After responding to several calls that lead nowhere, we get a report of a domestic disturbance–a fight between a boyfriend and girlfriend.  Officer A. puts on his sirens, and we start flying.  We arrive on the scene and meet two other officers.  Officer A. tells me I can get out of the vehicle with him.  Really?  The officers knock on the door and begin talking to the girlfriend, her best friend, and her mother.  The boyfriend is not on the scene, having possibly escaped through a back door.  Although the boyfriend allegedly dragged the girl from the car and began choking her, she says that she doesn’t want to press charges.  Ok.  The state may press charges anyway.

9:50 pm:  After responding to some other calls that lead nowhere, we get a report of a chihuahua in a busy street that is disrupting traffic.  We find the dog, park the car, and are ready to fetch it, when I see a large truck run right over it.  F***!!!

10:20 pm – 11:30 pm:  We go fishing.  “Fishing” is where an officer will stop cars for minor traffic violations to see if there exists suspicion of more serious criminal activity–outstanding warrants, DUI, drug possession, etc.  (Note:  This is 100% constitutional and for good reason.  See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996).)  Apparently it is against a city ordinance for a car to play its music so loud that it can be heard from a distance of thirty feet.  So, next time Journey comes on and you roll down your windows and crank it up . . . you may be violating the law.  In my opinion, if rocking out to Journey is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

11:45 pm:  We stop for dinner at Denny’s.  Three words:  Grand.  Slam.  Breakfast.

1:22 am:  I start drifting off to sleep as we are looking for a robbery suspect.  I’m tired . . .

1:30 am:  We respond to a domestic disturbance call, alleging that the daughter could become “very violent.”  Finally–some sweet action!  Officer A. puts on the sirens.  We arrive only to find out that this is just a verbal altercation between a teenager and her parents.  Apparently, they tried to take her phone away or something.  I try and prod Officer A. to arrest them all for wasting our time.

2:26 am:  We provide back-up for a DUI stop.  I witness Officer A. give a field sobriety test, after the on-scene officers explain that the suspect was weaving in and out of his lane, nearly hitting parked cars.  The guy is plainly wasted.  They arrest him and Officer A., being the rookie and the only one to speak Spanish, has to book him, which can take in excess of two hours.  In order to get me back to my car by 4:30 am, he passes me off to Officer P., the on-scene officer.  Thank you, Officer A!!!

3:40 am – 4:15 am:  I sit with Officer P., waiting for the truck to tow away the arrested man’s car.  We get into a somewhat deep discussion about legal issues that bother Officer P.–why frivolous cases are not disposed of more quickly before a jury trial, his dislike of criminal defense attorneys, and why the press is never held accountable for mischaracterizing the truth, especially in relation to excessive force cases.  I enjoy discussing the intricacies of the law with Officer P.

4:30 am:  We return to my car, and I go home!

Final thoughts:  This was an interesting experience.  Law enforcement officers are, for the most part, out there to simply serve the community and enforce the laws as they are written, and they bristle at the negative views people may hold about them.  Certainly, there are officers out there who harass minorities or overstep the bounds of the law, but this does not appear to be even close to being the general rule.  I definitely did not witness anything like that.  One regret–I really, really wish we could have harassed some of those damn hipsters that are overtaking the east side.  They deserve it with their “cooler than thou” attitudes.  That’s the real crime–Officer A.–that’s the real crime.