So, as some of you know, I went on a ride along on the deep watch with the Dallas Police Department today. The deep watch runs from midnight to 8 am. Unfortunately, my time was cut short, but more on that later. I’ve always really enjoyed the idea of protecting people and I love movies depicting that (my favorite being End of Watch) and wanted to get a first-person view, so why not tag along with the forces of good that fight the forces of evil?
Anyway, I get to the station on McCallum and Hillcrest at 12:03 this morning and rode with an officer who wasn’t much older than I am (I’m 26 and he’s 27) and man oh man, was it intense.
After he gets everything settled, bags stowed away in the trunk, making equipment checks, etc., he logs into the computer in his squad car and checks the calls that are waiting. On the computer were the calls in progress and who was responding to them and what time the calls came in. The calls I saw were: burglary in progress, minor disturbance, major accident, noise complaint. The one that got to me?
Suicide.
The officer explained to me a suicide is called a ‘Signal 34.’ When I was reading about that call, it said the person who committed suicide had overdosed on 300 mL of morphine. Seriously? That got to me. It was then that I quickly realized this kind of stuff is all around us and is very much real.
I asked the officer before we left the station, while he was sorting through the calls, how he deals with all the stuff he’s seen. He said, and I quote, “I’ve seen people with their heads blown off, dead babies, you name it.” Wow. He said he compartmentalizes it and forgets about it when he goes home. Um. How? How do you forget seeing stuff like that? I found out later in the shift, around 1:30 this morning, that he attends a Presbyterian church in Frisco, and that’s how he’s able to forget about that stuff. That’s seriously a relief that he rests on the Almighty to bring him peace when sees stuff we really can’t fathom.
I discovered this officer’s area, or “beat” as it’s called in the cop world, extended from the area around the station to around Northwest highway. While we were over close to 75, we rolled through the parking lot of the Ramada by Watermark. You know, the one by the Exxon station? Yeah. He said that hotel was a hot spot for prostitution. Really? But it’s less than a MILE from Watermark.
There’s an area close to the Hyatt that’s off 75 that he said was the worst area of his patrol, and it’s Kit Lane and Mayham Drive. He said to avoid that area at all costs and also said not to be fooled by “North Dallas.” Meaning, it’s still pretty dangerous. Honestly, I WAS fooled by North Dallas: there’s no crime here. The Galleria is over here! Man was I wrong.
While we were still around that same area, he pointed out different taggings of some of the gangs that are present in Dallas: the Nortenos (northern) and Surenos (southern) of California, for example. He also was telling me a story of one guy who decided to put a rifle in his mouth because it was discovered he was having, um, relations with his girlfriend’s daughter. So he decided to take his own life.
One of the most chilling things I heard all night was this: “I stepped on a guy’s teeth once on the carpet. I can’t forget the sound or the feeling of his teeth under my boot.” I was drinking a Mountain Dew at 2:00 AM and almost choked when he said that. That’s truly disturbing.
The incident that really opened my eyes was a call that came in on his computer about a “minor disturbance” on Spring Valley (the street I live on). A male and female were yelling at each other. No big deal, right? I mean, people argue. While it’s not a characteristic of a healthy relationship, it’s not illegal. So we’re on the way to this call (we were over by Royal Lane), his computer’s automated voice says “the call has been updated.” I looked, and that disturbance had been updated from minor to major and said the male had struck the female. So he began to drive a lot faster (they’re allowed to do 20 over the limit). We get there and we see this guy with his arms around his girlfriend, not in a loving way, mind you. She’s crying and screaming. The officer flings his door open, draws his gun and the guy runs. I can hear the officer yell “Hey! Come here! STOP!” as he chases him into the apartment he was apparently living in with his girlfriend. As I’m sitting there, the girl is stumbling all over the place, falling against cars, crying, screaming. I’m sitting in the car and lots of other cops show up out of nowhere, guns drawn. One yells out: “You come out or we’re coming in!” I see that girl walk past the patrol car, still crying, with a good sized gash above her left eye, and it was already swelling.
That’s when it really hit me: this isn’t TV. This isn’t a movie. This is REAL LIFE and it’s all unfolding right in front of me and I’ve got a front row ticket to the madness we live in.
As I mentioned earlier, my night was cut short. The officer I was riding with escorted the girl who had been hit to the hospital and to a woman’s shelter for the rest of the night, and for privacy reasons, I couldn’t be a part of that. Makes sense. So I was given a ride back to the station by a plain clothes officer, who showed up at that scene. He was wearing a tactical vest that said ‘Police’ on it and had spare magazines and everything else under the sun on it. Seriously cool. (I asked if I could wear one and he said no. Darn.) Anyway, this guy was very soft spoken. He said he’s a plain clothes officer who wears civilian clothing, grows a beard and blends in. He was driving an older model Ford Explorer (department issued) with an AR-15 sitting right behind me. He said he’s the one who catches the rapists, burglars, etc. and also serves felony warrants. Whoa. I asked him how he handles dealing with the worst of society and how he goes home to his wife and kids after dealing with all that and he said his family keeps him grounded. “My wife takes care of me. She tucks me in and cares for me. What I see out here doesn’t define me.” I asked if he was religious, and he said “very.” That was really awesome hearing that.
While most of the night was filled with discussing gang activity, reasons for probable cause and things like that, one really interesting moment came around 1:15 this morning. The police dispatch comes over the radio saying there’s an obstruction on Montfort (a pole or some such) caused by a hit and run driver in a red Chevy Silverado. We turned onto Preston, following an older green car, a Corolla I believe. I asked if we’re going to respond to the obstruction and he said no. “I’m gonna stop this woman right here; she’s got warrants.” Honestly, I was kind of excited. I’ve never seen anyone get arrested before in person and now was my chance. He throws on the reds and blues and she pulls over in the Dunkin Donuts on Preston road, right next to the Jack in the Box, across the street from Aldi’s. He tells me to stay in the car, which I of course do. He comes back with her license and registration and runs her information on the computer. I saw EVERY detail of that woman: full name, address, date of birth, height, hair color, eye color, etc. After verifying she had warrants, he returns to her, hands her license back, says a few things, and gets in. We drive off, heading toward 75. I asked what happened and he explained she had traffic tickets in Addison that went unpaid and turned to warrants. He also said her registration was out and her license was expired. I was shocked. I mean, all that and he let her GO?
His reasoning for letting her go was this: “She explained to me that she’s had a tough year, financially. Could she be lying? Yeah. She couldn’t afford to pay those tickets so she let em go. I could tell she was too embarrassed to tell me, but I was able to figure it out. I mean, what good would it have done to take her to jail and impound her car? She could lose her job, causing her to fall even more behind on bills. She would resent the department. Not good. Her warrants weren’t violent offenses, just traffic related.”
That was really cool. I mean, really. This guy wasn’t a total jerk at all and showed compassion. Very cool.
Why am I sharing this with you? Well, like I said, it was an incredible experience and one I felt strongly about sharing. I wanted a front-row seat of law enforcement, to be in the thick of it, and I certainly got it tonight. I experienced first hand, through words and events, how dark and broken this world really is, and tonight served as a glaring reminder of that. Was it exciting? You bet. I got to talk guns with a cop. That’s awesome. On the flip side of that, it reminded me of what JP said: we need to be a light in this world, because it’s dark. It certainly is.
So I got at 4 this morning and I’ve been writing for what seems like an eternity. I enjoyed laying this all out for you, sharing my experience, hoping to convey how very real this was. I hope to go out again sometime soon and be on the front lines once again.
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