Day One on the Job

             If you’re at all like me, you flinch ever so slightly when you see a police car. You can imagine then how petrified I was when I saw the field of cop cars as I pulled into the downtown police station at 7 ‘o’ clock. It wasn’t until I remembered I was here voluntarily and I wasn’t actually in any trouble did I loosen my death vice on the steering wheel. This morning experience actually embodies the entirety of my day. Expectations and reality aren’t always the same thing. As I met Officer Roberts of the DPD (Dallas Police Department) he wasn’t a cold blue suit that begrudgingly dragged me through the station. In fact it was A pleasant experience with plenty of talking, laughing, and telling stories. Even as we got into the police car, I was greeted by the sound of a familiar tune. How outrageous! I had never thought before that something as serious as a cop car could even do such a thing. From the very beginning though, my silly thoughts were pushed aside as we got assigned our first call from the radio. For those who don’t know a call is just the things an officer does to respond to a 911 call. The range of tasks we preformed that day was pretty broad. From the simple things like expired inspection stickers (don’t worry, he got off with a warning) to more serious things like dealing with the aftermath of domestic violence. All of this on top of my endless questions about police rules, protocol, and life in general (which Mr. Roberts was nice enough to both tolerate and answer all of them). I don’t want to ruin everything. I need some stuff for my presentation, but I did learn a lot of things today that I wont soon forget. It was a pleasant experience that I look forward to doing again tomorrow.