Car 54! Where are you?

So I had Saturday and Sunday off work and I was supposed to work so I did something a little different. I went on a ride along with the Hamilton Police Service. I opted for Saturday night because "B" Squad was on and these are the folks that I usually see in the course of my regular work. I have to say I had a GREAT time!

Ever since I was a young kid (I don't usually say 'little') I have always held police officers in a very high regard. I was taught that if you were in trouble you could always go to the police and they will help you. You also always treat them with the greatest respect because their very job is to protect and serve the citizenry.

So because of this and because I wanted a better understanding of the job they do is why I tried for this opportunity. I see and talk to many officers fairly often and it never hurts for one emergency service to have a better understanding of another. So off I went.

So needless to say I was thrilled to no end to ride along for awhile. When I was in the parade room at the start of the shift and all of the familiar faces were surprised to see me and seemed genuinely pleased that I was taking my off time to do this. I was assigned to ride with constable Cathy. Last name shall remain vacant. I've seen her dozens of times on various scenes so we already knew each other somewhat.

So first is find the cruiser. No luck. We have the keys to a car, but the car is MIA. No worries, we go get keys to another car. She first shows me how she "runs" a plate. I'm told that she will often run a plate for any number of reasons; such as the car seems out of place, is trying to avoid her cruiser, or just because she's stopped at a light. I am stunned at how fast she gets this info. It takes literally about 5 seconds from transmitting the plate number to getting all the info in the computer. Who owns the car, license number, address, any and all problems they have had with the police, restrictions if any and tons more info. She even let me run a few plates.

On a side note, you will be happy to learn that neither myself, Jaci, or her Aunt Wendy are wanted by the police!

Shortly after we are investigating a report of youths fighting and we have a young man (16 years old) who's exceptionally drunk in the back of the cruiser. He dodges some questions about his age and name and finally comes clean. I didn't know this, but it is actually a crime to not identify yourself to a police officer. You may have the right to remain silent, but you still have to tell them who you are.

This young man pukes ALL OVER the back of the cruiser. Nothing but and orange juice smell mixed with vomit. Lovely. Off to the lock-up where he's booked for "drunk" and back to the key board for a new car. Turns out there is a service that cleans out the cruisers when people release various body fluids.

So with a new car we are off to a bomb threat. Our job is to watch over the pay phone where the threat was made to make sure it stays intact so it can be fingerprinted. CSI is crap, real police work takes time and legwork. This I have learned.

While we are doing this, two other cops (which is short for Constable On Patrol) respond to an allegedly unconscious man who at one point hits one of the officers. I see both of them at the station, Tim and Frank (Frank got hit and he's fine). This one incident and the obvious arrest that ensued will occupy these two officers for seven to eight HOURS with the paperwork.

There aren't NEARLY as many cops on the street as there should be and each arrest generates literally HOURS of paperwork. I was stunned. Nothing like EMS. We have such a small amount to do that I sometimes forget how the rest of the world works. Ridiculous.

At any rate we are off to an MVC (Motor Vehicle Collision). We got there well ahead of the ambulance so I did my thing and did some triaging and one of the victims was a little girl (she's fine) who was understandably upset. None of the responding police had any Teddy Bears (Optimists Club provides them) so the call went out and within minutes there arrived some more police to drop off a teddy bear to the girl and one for her sister. Turns out it was a tactical van. My funny bone was very tickled to see soft brown teddy bears coming out the window of a SWAT truck.

We did a lot of other things as well that night and I will sum up some of the things I have learned.

1. In EMS, our dispatch calls us on the radio using our truck number. With police, they use the "beat" number. Ours was 1377. Right in the downtown core. This means that if a call comes up in our beat and we are available, we go and we take the lead. This does not stop us from responding all over the place.

2. Ever see a cruiser drive fast without its lights on? I have but I have since realized the hard way that often police want to approach a scene in "stealth". Lights and a siren will scare away the prowler in your backyard but catching them red handed is better.

3. The amount of paperwork that has to be done if an arrest is made is obscene. This takes cops off the road for long periods of time.

4. We need more cops. Lots of them. Toronto is five times the size of Hamilton and has ten times the cops. Do the math.

I am very grateful to Cathy for taking me around and showing me the ropes. My eyes have been opened wider and I have a much better understanding. My respect for police officers has grown even greater.

It's hard to fully understand until you try to walk a mile in their steel-toed boots what it is they really do. I have only spent 11 hours on the police side of things and I still have only scratched the tip of the ice berg. It really is hard to understand the mindset of the average cop.

For example, gun shot goes off, what happens? People duck and run, if they're smart. I as a paramedic still duck, but will approach with caution to see if I can help only after the scene is made safe. Not cops. Cops run toward the gunshot and will first put themselves between you and danger, before doing anything else. They are first in harm's way for you. You have to respect that.

If any read the Hamilton Spectator on August 29th, you may remember Susan Clairmont's article about the free coffee. All I can say is that if I owned a coffee shop in this town, no street cop would ever put their hand in their pocket.

To sum up, even knowing that not all cops are the best of people; I respect them as an occupation even more than I ever have. Thanks again Cathy.

Be well.