New Year's Eve 2009 will be a celebration that I will never forget. Back in June, I graduated from the Citizen's Police Academy (
www.cwftx.net/index.asp?nid=1067). One of the perks of being an alumni is having the opportunity to do a police ride-along four times a year.
In November, I asked my friend Meg if she wanted to do her ride-along on New Year's Eve (she was a 2005 graduate of the academy). She thought that was a GREAT idea. I have done many things for New Year's Eve: been to swanky bars (and gotten kicked out of swanky bars), been to house parties, been home alone, heck, I have even been at church on the big night. So, I knew doing a ride-along would be different and memorable.
About a week before Christmas, Meg and I went to the police station and filled out some paperwork for our ride (which involved a background check). Then we waited...and waited. Finally, Meg called the station on Monday and was told that our paperwork had not been cleared by the Sergeant. So, I called on Tuesday and found out that I was approved (Meg later found out that she had been approved). We didn't know what to expect, but were told to be at the station at 10:30p.m. on New Year's Eve. We got to the station and had to turn in our driver's licenses for badges. We found out that I would be with Officer B on the Southside Beat and Meg would be with Officer M on the Downtown Beat.
11:00p.m. Our guys showed up! My guy looked like he was 12 years old! After the introductions, we headed to the cruisers. We were allowed to sit in the front seat and ask lots of questions (which Meg and I undoubtedly did!). We were told that sometimes we would be allowed to get out of the police car and at other times we would have to stay in. My guy was a three-year veteran and as it turns out my mom works with his mom and my brother used to date his cousin...small world. We chit-chatted for a bit, but then it was off to our first call.
11:05p.m. We headed to an apartment complex because someone was outside being loud and possibly had a knife. I was not allowed to get out on this call :-( Fortunately, the guy did not have a knife, but was just drunk. Officer B told him to go home, go to bed, and that if he had to come back and deal with him, he would be going to jail. While all of this was going on outside, I just sat in the car and listened to the police scanner (which offered tons of information).
11:20p.m. We headed to SW Parkway where we found a woman that had been hit by a car. She tried to illegally cross SW Parkway on foot and was clipped by a minivan's mirror. She was not injured (although her leg had some serious burns on it) and refused treatment. She didn't speak English so they had to bring in a translator. There were three cops on the scene and I got to get out. One of the passengers in the minivan decided to chat me up. I think this was her first time in the big city or perhaps she was on something, I am not really sure. I didn't know what to say to her so I kept my responses to a minimum (which is not easy for me!).
11:45p.m. After the hit and no run, we headed to a domestic disturbance. There was already a police officer there and he had the situation under control by the time we arrived. Again, I had to sit in the car.
12:00a.m. The New Year came with us speeding (90+mph) down Kell to a foot chase. However, it was called off before we arrived. At this time, the sky over WF was lighting up like the Fourth of July (and people were shooting guns in the air...like in downtown Baghdad). I asked if we would try to stop the fireworks, but was told that we had bigger issues to deal with.
12:15a.m. Over the radio, we heard that there had been a shooting off of SW Parkway. We flew over to the house, but had trouble finding the cul-de-sac. Finally we found the address and were the first on the scene. The facts were these: a man (that was a trained hunter) choked his wife and threatened to kill her. She then ran and hid in the bathroom and called 911 (with her dog). The man then proceeded to shoot his rifle three times in the house. When we arrived, Officer B told me that this could be a stand-off situation and to stay in the car and lock the doors. He then proceeded to get his semi-automatic weapon out of the trunk. At this point, I was a little scared. I was hoping the hunter wouldn't run out of his house and open fire on the police cars! The policemen on the scene asked the 911 dispatcher to have the woman open her garage door and run out to them. She refused as she didn't want to leave the bathroom (remember, I am hearing all of this on the radio). Then the garage door opened half-way and then closed again. So the policemen again asked dispatch to tell the wife to come out. Apparently, the garage then opened all the way and the hunter came out and surrendered...even throwing his guns in the grass. The next thing I know, two cops and a hand-cuffed man walk right by me. By this point, I have been sitting alone in the car for 30 minutes. My officer then comes back and tells me that since he was the first on the scene that he will have to stay behind and do paperwork. So, I am left alone again for another 30 minutes. The whole time I was in the car I was texting Meg and trying to find out what she was doing (which helped pass the time). She was dealing with a kidnapping at one of the super stores. She got to sit with the perp for a little bit by herself in the car. At first he talked to himself and then he started crying. At some point, the perp wanted to engage Meg in conversation and thought her and her officer were married! In the end, the guy got really angry and abusive. At this point, Meg and her officer took him to jail. Around 1:20a.m., my guy came back. He informed me that the police had been at this couple's house a few nights prior. Apparently, the husband likes to take Xanax and threaten his wife. However on this night, she decided to press charges.
1:30a.m. At this time, we headed to the jail to drop off paperwork on the shooting case (the jail is located at the County Courthouse). We parked in the garage and my officer had to take off all of his weaponry. We saw Meg and her officer, but they were leaving as we came in. We entered the jail and I saw the shooter being booked...which was really quite interesting. We talked to a few guys who were also booking people and doing paperwork. One of the officers told me that Meg was upset that I had seen lots of action tonight (initially, we thought that Meg would have the more exciting night). We then left the jail and patrolled the streets for a while (at very high speeds). I saw parts of this town that I never knew existed!
2:00a.m. We were called to another domestic disturbance (this one by a school where I used to work). Apparently a man and a woman were fighting and the woman broke a beer bottle over the man's head. The man tried to retaliate, but another man intercepted with a knife. Then one of the men ran out of the house. We left the scene and drove around the area looking for the man...with no luck. I asked if their were children in the home...the answer was yes. Poor babies had to witness 1)their "parents" fighting and 2)the cops coming into the home in the middle of the night! While we were dealing with the bad parents, Meg and her officer were involved in a high-speed chase!
2:30a.m. We were driving around and found a guy with his license plate light out. Officer B asked if we should pull him over and I said no that that was minor. While we were discussing, this other idiot slams on his accelerator (while at a red light) and rolls his tires...causing lots of smoke. Officer B does a quick U-turn, turns on his lights, and pulls the jerk over. I don't know if the guy didn't see us or just wanted to show off, but he ended up with a ticket! While Officer B was dealing with the driver, another shooting came over the radio and Meg started texting me.
*Side note, Meg and I were supposed to finish our shift at 3:00a.m.*
2:55a.m. Officer B finished up with the driver and told me that we would be heading to the shooting and he would get me back to my car ASAP. He turned on his lights and sirens and we flew downtown (going over 100+mph down Brook!). There was a shooting at a downtown club and one man was down with multiple gunshot wounds. After attending the first shooting, I was a lot less scared this time around. We pulled up and there were probably 20 cop cars already on the scene. My guy jumped out and told me to stay in the car and to lock the doors. I have never seen so many people in the downtown area! Club-goers were just standing around in their celebration attire. Now if I were somewhere and gunshots started going off, you better believe that I would high-tail it out of there! Anyway, there were hundreds of people at the scene and then Meg pulled up behind me. A building was blocking her view so she asked me for a play-by-play since I had a front-row seat. I really couldn't see anything because the cops were blocking my view. Then an ambulance showed up, we saw a man being put in the ambulance, and then we saw the EMT doing chest compressions through the window as the ambulance sped off. Officer B finally came back and said that he was going to be here for a while and would I mind calling someone to come and pick me up. I told him that my friends and family would not appreciate a call at 3:30 in the morning asking them to pick me up where someone had just been shot. He agreed. He told me to sit tight and wait it out. Again, Meg and I talked and texted while we waited. By this point, the media had made an appearance. I was just sitting there waiting when I saw Meg walking up to my car. She and Officer B got in and he driove us back to the police station (Meg had to ride in the back like a criminal :-) Here is a link from the Times Record News about the story:
www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/jan/01/police-investigating-nightclub-shooting/3:35a.m. We get back to the station and say our goodbyes to Officer B. We then headed in to the station and turned our badges in for our licenses. We had originally planned to go and eat afterward, but I was really ready to go home. Although once I got home, my adrenaline was pumping and I wasn't able to go to sleep until 5:30a.m.
Meg and I talked later and we didn't want to say that this was an amazing night due to the fact that someone lost their life, but this was an experience that I will never forget. I have a new appreciation for the police...they run in when everyone else is running out. My officer made it look so easy, but I know that being a policeman is not an easy job. If you live in Wichita Falls, rest assured that you have a wonderful force of men and women looking out for you.
