Police Ride Along?

[Mach351]

Has anybody done one?
Looking for feedback on what was experienced or what to expect from it.

I recently completed the Citizens Police Academy offered by my local police department. This is a prerequisite to applying to participate in a ride along.
So now I am about to see about scheduling the ride along.


My shameless plug...

The Citizens Police Academy I attended was very insightful and enlightening to the everyday operations of the police department that I highly recommend if you have the opportunity where you live.

One class (of the 13) from the program that has a lasting effect is participating as an officer in a mock-up of police scenarios that may be encountered any given day:

Scenario 1) Officer is dispatched to a domestic violence call where the only information the dispatcher has is that a neighbor has called in saying there is screaming and yelling in an adjacent apartment.
You arrive on the scene and hear the screaming and yelling in the apartment; knocking (or pounding) on the door and you announce police is here, but no one answers, so you take the initiative to enter the apartment.
Two women and a man are yelling and fighting; it is up to you and your partner to handle separating them.
After a few minutes of trying to "defuse" the situation, out of nowhere one woman, in this case the wife, has a knife and stabs the other woman. Instantly, she turns on you and tries to stab you.

This scenario was a wife walking in on her husband with a mistress.

Scenario 2) Officer is performing a traffic stop where there is a passenger in the front seat; your partner approaches the driver and asks for driver's license etc. and the driver seems intoxicated or high.
You have approached the passenger side and after some conversation between your partner and the driver, the passenger suddenly flees the car. You chase the passenger and they run around a building - as you run around the corner of the building, the passenger is standing there with a gun drawn on you...
How do you handle this situation?
*Statistically - if you are not dead within the first 10 seconds of facing the armed person, there is a good chance the situation can be resolved without injury.

Scenario 3) Officer is dispatched to a security alarm in a warehouse, no other information is available. It is the officer's duty to sweep the building for intruders.
It is after hours and it is dark inside the entire building. (do you turn on the lights announcing where you are at, or proceed in the dark only using a flashlight when necessary?)
After clearing a few rooms, you find a man that is sitting on the floor facing away from you.

Given you have just potentially been killed twice; how do you approach this person? Do you know if they are homeless, cold, and just trying to get out of the rain? Or are they a sociopath with malevolent intentions?
After conversation, you find the person is cold and trying to get out of the rain. [we caught a break on this one as opposed to being stabbed or shot.] They have no family to go to.
However, they are unwilling to leave the building and refused to go to a "shelter"... How do you get them out?
In this situation you may find police officers can be the kindest person in the city. They can drive anyone to a local "shelter" for a meal and place to sleep. They may even offer a meal at Denny's out of their own pocket.
Or they arrest you for trespassing and you get a free meal and place to sleep at the local jail.

Another potential scenario: You are an officer that is dispatched to a house on a domestic disturbance call. No one answers the door; after entering the house you don't immediately find anyone. Performing a sweep, you enter a bathroom with the shower curtain closed - How do you check the shower/bathtub without getting your face blown off by a shotgun or other firearm?
(There is something officers are trained to do that isn't likely obvious, but I'm going to leave this here for thought.)

Other classes ranged from a real "death" investigation (the class had to determine if it was homicide or an accident using real evidence), hostage situations, child and elderly abuse, gang activity, and about anything you can think of in-between.
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