Ride alongs

[CBR_rider]

I'm going to get a ride along, in response to this thread. Should be interesting.

Do you think they would let a CCW holder ride along armed?
I don't even have my CCW yet. Just asking out of curiosity.

You should do one. my agency doesnt allow ccw though.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I don't foresee any agency allowing an armed ride-along. There's a lot of liability exposure since you're in their vehicles and following the directions of their personnel (you'll see that language in their waiver agreement).

I cannot see any department allowing LTC ride alongs. They don't know anything about the holder or his respective background & training. They will end up buying any bad decision made by the LTC holder who shows up at the incident on the heels of the officer.

I don't doubt that all you LTC'ers are awesome ninja tacticians, but it is just a wild card for the agency that they will not want to gamble on.

[CinnamonBear723]

Ride a longs can be very hit or miss. I don't mind them if it's someone I know or someone that is genuinely interested in LE. I hate getting 90 year old ladies from the citizens academy. You spend the whole time carting them around looking for bathrooms.......Had a youngster in college last time. He spent the whole shift humming Christmas music. He was also very upset at me for leaving him in the lobby for a few mins while I got my stuff together. I finally couldn't take it anymore and had the Sgt call me for "a special undercover assignment." Unfortunately I was "forced" to terminate the ride a long

[afteractionreport]

Ride a longs can be very hit or miss. I don't mind them if it's someone I know or someone that is genuinely interested in LE. I hate getting 90 year old ladies from the citizens academy. You spend the whole time carting them around looking for bathrooms.......Had a youngster in college last time. He spent the whole shift humming Christmas music. He was also very upset at me for leaving him in the lobby for a few mins while I got my stuff together. I finally couldn't take it anymore and had the Sgt call me for "a special undercover assignment." Unfortunately I was "forced" to terminate the ride a long

grandma....

Id be interested in riding along with a fellow calgunner. I remember you saying you were in the OC sonewhere before. If your willing to take me along id be grateful...im interested in "walking in a LeOS shoes for a day"

PM me and i can give you more info about myself....

[afteractionreport]

Or if any other calgunner is willing to take me for a ride along id be very grateful....

PM me and i can give you more info about myself

(Ps:im in long beach but would prefer to ride aroud in a different city)
Thanks

[TransplantTexan]

My son is an Officer in CO. I did a ride along with him about 2 years ago. We were involved in 24 calls in a 10 hour shift. We had a foot chase, a car chase, several shot fired or person with a gun, along with a myriad of DV, See the lady in the parking lot, bar fight, etc. The rule was I could go anywhere he did. I opted out of the foot chase and hung back during the gun call, made sure I stayed out of the way when it mattered.

I'd do it again but he's transferred to the Gang unit and they don't do ride alongs in the gang unit.

[bk23103]

I wasn't a cop, but rather a community service officer of sorts. Over seven years I had a lot of ride alongs from either explorers, dispatchers, media, or other folks interested in working the same position.

One of the biggest complaints I had was when my ridealong would question my decisions in the field - we'd be handling an accident investigation and the ridealong would get upset that nobody conducted FST's on each of the involved parties (despite a complete lack of evidence/symptomology), they'd argue with me as to who should have been at fault in each of the collisions we responded to, or point out violations I could potentially cite for while en route to other calls and question why I didn't take action.

I always tried to educate whoever rode with me and take the opportunity to provide perspective from 'the other side' but sometimes it was an uphill battle. I never minded having a passenger, and now as a dispatcher I welcome sitalongs when I answer the phones.

When I was an exploder, I had more than one ridealong where the officer I was assigned to told me to sit down, shut up, and don't touch anything. Those were always long ten hour days of sitting in the car. Most bosses know the personalities of their officers and won't let that happen. Some don't care.

[wisardd1]

Cool thread!

[IlDuche]

Ride alongs where I'm at are "stick em with whoever." Most cops where I'm at hate em. I don't mind too much, its a bit uncomfortable till you feel them out. I have told them to not touch their phone when we are in car, because i don't want a "spy" recording everything. Also kinda fun going to shots fired calls code 3 and sliding the car with the local rock station blaring. Professionalism at its best!

[gringo m]

I loved ride alongs. People got to actually see what really happens every day. I would encourage you do a few, with different cops if you can. Like others have said, ask to go to the busy beats.

In my experience ride alongs go with the corporal or senior guy. They know how to safely handle other people in their car and are a wealth of information.

I've had mayors and city officials ride along, media, civilians, all kinds of folks. I always enjoyed it. It's an eye opener for most. You will see how much paperwork is involved in a seemingly mundane arrest, hopefully have some drunk scream in your face, see some bloody people, etc. You'll definitely learn some things.

I like the honesty of these guys. Thank you.

[CBR_rider]

I'm in OC. Can I request a ride along with any agency I want, or does it have to be my local PD?

Some agencies prefer you live in their jurisdiction but it all depends.