I always thought I knew. I figured he had it pretty easy. And I often teased him about how easy he had it. Driving around in an air-conditioned car. And I especially teased him about donuts. For years now I've asked him if I could do a ride-along. He has them all the time at work, they are often the reason he can't come home during meal times. So when he was on nights his answer was always no. He's been on days for over a half a year now. And he finally said yes!
He had said the best day for me to come in would be a Wednesday. I wondered if that was because being midweek in the summer there would be very little action. Even though I don't really know the reason, I do know the day went faster then I could have possibly imagined.
The day started out for me at 10 o'clock. His day began at 8 a.m. I could have went in earlier, however I wanted to miss out on what I could only assume is a very boring roll call. When we got in his patrol vehicle he explained to me what I could and could not do in there. Basically I could touch nothing. And I could put my seatbelt on. He then explained to me what everything in the car was. How he starts his day by checking that everything in his vehicle worked. After that we got on the road. We drove around a few blocks and ended up parking facing away from downtown to do some radar. He thoroughly explained to me how the radar worked, and if someone's life depended on me explaining that radar to them, they wouldn't make it. He needed to make at least one traffic stop (this did not mean he had to write a ticket).
It wasn't very long before we spotted someone running a red light. He quickly called it in and pulled the car over. Once he stepped out I turned up the volume for his mic pack. (This was the only other thing I was allowed to touch in the car.) With this volume button I was able to hear everything he said and most things other sounds around him. During this traffic stop my husband saw that the driver what's a veteran of Vietnam. He thanked him for his service. Years from now I probably won't be able to tell you the color of the car, what the guy looked like, or even what time of day it was. But I will never forget how proud I was of my husband for honoring a man that put his life on the line for our country. And if you were wondering, he let the gentleman off with a warning.
After that we went back to the department to get his partner. Many times the officers are alone when patrolling. But when they need to serve warrants they go together. Watching my husband and his partner work together really reassured me that my husband has people that work with him that I can trust.
We had to go to a house to check on someone. After this person disclose very unnecessary information, the guys handled themselves professionally, which is something I would have been unable to do. This person also lied to them. I didn't even pick up on it, but my guy knew right away, and he was right.
The rest of the day went quickly. One call to the next. Barely time for lunch, to type his reports, to use the restroom. But he did it all. This made me truly proud to be a police wife.
