Anchorage Police Department Ride-Along

As part of my internship for the Municipality of Anchorage I am required to do a ride-along with the Anchorage police department. I did mine on Friday evening from 2:45-midnight. It was a very interesting experience; I learned a lot about police culture and about the attitude that officers have towards the horrible and sad things they see every night.

They put me in a bullet-proof vest - which made me feel like a bad ass - and I sat in the passenger seat of a patrol car with Officer Deville and essentially became a shadow for the night. There is nothing like doing 70 in a 30 with the sirens and lights going. I had to try really hard not to grin and giggle because I thought it was so fun. Just like there is no crying in baseball, I found out there is no smiling on patrol.

My favorite part of the whole night was working with a K-9 unit. Every K-9 unit is required to do a certain number of "training tracks" to keep the dog and the handler prepared and in tune with each other. Officer Deville put on a different jacket over his uniform (to keep the dog from barking at the uniform) and layed down the track; I stayed with the handler and the dog to watch them. It was super cool to see a working dog in action.

I wouldn't say that it was a fantastic experience, but it definitely was interesting. I would like to do a ride-along in a different city to see what the differences are between departments, but I can't imagine wanting Officer Deville's job.