Ride along Etiquette

I have recently come upon an opportunity to do a ride along with my local PD through their Citizen Police Academy. I'm curious if officers have any opinions on ride along etiquette. Should I just sit and be quite? Should I not ask too many questions? Should I attempt to make conversation? What kind of things do you like/dislike a ride along to do.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I would hate to disrespect or annoy the officer who takes me for the ride.

 

Feel free to ask questions.....the officer volunteered or agreed to take a ridealong, so he/she is most likely going to be open to answering questions or engaging in conversation. That's kind of the whole point of the ridealong.

 

I don't mind questions, so if it was me you were the ridealond with, ask away. I enjoy talking shop and teaching.

 

I can't figure out how to do it from my cell. That clip of Jerry and George in LA in the back of the cruiser would go so well here.

 

There ya go Southy do what they did. The Cop on the left also played Jake Jarmel from the jujy fruits episode.

 

They tried to get Kent McCord and Martin Milner (Adam-12) to play the parts of the cops for that scene. McCord lives in Los Angeles and was totally up for it, but Milner lives in some mid-Western state and does a radio talk show about fishing.....he didn't want to do it, and McCord wouldn't do it without him.

Too bad....that would have been TV Hall of Fame material.

 

I did not know that. LACopper would have been perfect for the part.

 

Please, please, whatever you do don't just sit there staring out the window. It is quite awkward and boring to drive around talking to yourself for 4 hours. I'd rather answer questions that you might think are stupid and educate you a little bit about what it is we really do than drive around with you in silence or texting your friends all night.

 

Any reason to turn on the LEDs is a good reason imo :smug:

 

Asking questions is fine but be sure to ask them at the right times. If the officer is responding to a call lights and sirens just sit still and listen. Also when the officer is on the call do as he says. Many Dept's will not want you getting out of the car if there is a risk to your safety or your presence may make a situation more complicated. You can learn a lot from a ride a long and it can be a great experience for you.

Good luck.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I was going to call the city to schedule a ride along with Deuce. I was going to ask 'are we there yet?' The whole time.

Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk

 

If you are in the passenger seat while the officer is running cold don't yelp like a train is about to T-bone you every time you go through an intersection.

I almost shit my pants when a ride along yelped for no reason whatsoever.

 

I don't take ride alongs due to the fact my chief knows I'm a grumpy loner (i.e. I work midnights). However, I would suggest you DO NOT take cool pics to post on facebook nor tweet about your "shift". What happens in the cruiser stays in the cruiser. With that said, just relax, have fun and like others have said ask questions. Nothing worse than awkward silence

 

That reminds me...in Montgomery County MD, the MCPD guys are essentially told when they can/cant activate their warning equipment. They can always downgrade, but can not necessarily decide when to use their lights/sirens as its dictated by policy. Is it the same in VA?

Kinda random but your post reminded me...

 

And order yourself one of these for your belt. We wouldnt want anyone to know you're not "on the job."
View attachment 3346

 

First of any tone alert or violent crime is an automatic. Double tones/Signal 1s are a cluster because you have VSP and about 4 surrounding jurisdictions all going to the same area. I-66 or I-95 looks like a Christmas parade. Unless there is an explicit "slow down" on all bands guys will come from an hour away if needed. Feds will jump on board for Signal 1s as well.

As for the grey area stuff, Virginia pretty much goes by the mantra of, "if you can articulate your actions you are good.' If I hear the slightest hesitation or change in the voice of my beat partner over the radio that's a code run. If a call is dispatched poorly and I think there is more to the story I run code. I'm sure I can think of 100 other examples if I wasn't so tired right now.

There are of course certain General Orders and Policies that have to be followed while you do certain things but for the most part we are not on a short leash when it comes to using our emergency equipment. Hell we have had guys blow the door off the Chief running code to calls. When he got on scene he said, "those boys we driving fast!"


Side note: I'm sure you guys all have your own side code words or phrases for the radio, but if someone asks for an ETA down here and it's not completely obvious the question is legit (like the officer is waiting for flares or something) people are rolling in that direction.

 

Bring the beer and it's a deal!

---------- Post added at 17:28 ---------- Previous post was at 17:26 ----------

civilians...

Not always true...

 

Not always true...[/QUOTE]


That's exactly why I raised the question

 

It is for us....if we have a ridealong, they're there at our invitation or with our permission.

Every ridealong I've had has been either on the job themselves somewhere else, or someone I already knew and trusted.

 

I had a high school kid ask me (on a ride-a-long) if I kept the beer that was confiscated from high school kids....... try and ask intelligent questions, not probing questions as if you are working for the media.............oh, and try to complete a sentence without using the word "like", you sound a bit more mature...........

 

Whenever I have a ride along, I take them to the dirtiest alleys, the most gang infested, and the worst section of the area I can find. I want the ride along to have the "best" experience ever! I then have my ride alongs get out with me while we go to just about all the calls, unless maybe they might get in the way.

Our ride alongs have to sign a waiver prior to going out on the street so it's not really an issue about their safety. If they wanted to stay safe, they could ride along with "Joe the Plumber."

I recommend you dress in dark clothing, turn your phone off, listen to what your "partner" tells you, don't talk when the radio is talking, and don't interfere when your "partner" is taking police action. Oh, and have fun!