For today's post, I decided to talk about my JMU Police Ride-Along Epicness! I've decided to tell half the story today, and the other half of the story tomorrow since tomorrow's topic also goes along with ride-along.
Taylor and I began our ride-along at 9pm. Pretty much every officer was working that weekend because weekends in April tend to have the threat of block parties in the forecast. Luckily, April 2011 was much quieter and calmer than April 2010. When we got to the PD, Sgt. Biller met us. We spent the first 45 minutes of our ride-along in the police station watching a baseball game on TV while some of the officers were eating… so thrilling. Around 10pm though, we finally hit the streets!
It was very quiet for the longest time. We drove through campus, and neither Taylor nor I were talking because we didn’t know what to talk about or if we should talk. Sgt. Biller decided to take us around off-campus, but just as we were about to make the turn to go off-campus, a call came over the radio for a suspicious drug odor (aka marijuana) in Logan Hall. Well since Amy was the HD there at the time, I was like, WE HAVE TO GO! So, Sgt. Biller made a big turn in the middle of the road and we were off to Logan Hall. We were the last of 3 officers to get there though! We all went in together, & I got to see Amy, who looked less than pleased about the incident. The building smelt funky on the first floor, but it wasn’t until we went to the second floor that it reeked. The officers were asking Taylor and I where we thought it was coming from and such (it was nice to be included), and since Taylor & I practically bust people for pot as a pastime, we had no trouble zeroing in on a room. BUT, of course, no one was there. So nothing became of the situation. As we were leaving, Sgt. Biller needed to take his break, so he passed us off to one of our favorite officers, Sgt. Jones.
Our ride with Sgt. Jones was very informative. We were talking a lot more at this point, and joking about incidents past. Sgt. Jones drove us along the perimeter of JMU’s jurisdiction, and Taylor & I got to see some super sketch back roads that made me question whether we were even on a road at some points! We headed back to campus, and that’s when a call for a suspicious drug odor in Eagle Hall came over the radio. We headed to the Lake Area and met up with Officer Mills (another fav of Taylor & I). I lived in Eagle my freshman year and hadn’t been in there in years, so I led the way to this incident. We met two of the RAs on the second floor, and it did not smell like pot anywhere. As soon as I opened the wing door however, I could hear the definite sounds of people partying in a room. The officers’ jobs were done, but we stayed for support. I motioned for the RAs to come knock on the room door. Both RAs were first year RAs, and even though it was April, you could tell they were still very nervous about confronting. I knocked on the door, and after several minutes of shuffling around, a resident finally opened the door. Once we asked to come in the room, the resident started babbling about how their roommate wasn’t there, and the girl RA was like, “I didn’t ask about your roommate.” Meanwhile, Officer Mills was trying to get Taylor to go in the room & Taylor was like, “No thanks, I deal with this all the time!” So meanwhile, the second Eagle RA was still standing in the hallway, so I was like come in and be this girl’s backup. They talked with the residents, but didn’t find the alcohol (it was in the closet the entire time which Taylor & I later informed the RAs of). So, as we were leaving, I told the residents of the room that I highly suggested they leave Eagle… which they did. So, as we were leaving Eagle, the two RAs informed the officers and Taylor & I that they didn’t know what marijuana smelt like. This led to like a 20 minute educational conversation about weed.
Once we left Eagle and our newly educated Eagle RAs, we drove around for a little bit, and then Sgt. Jones met up with Sgt. Biller to give us back, and we once again were riding with Sgt. Biller. We finally got to drive off campus, but there was like nothing going on. We soon got an emergency call for alcohol poisoning outside on the sidewalk in front of MGL. I’m going to skip talking about this incident because the girl was really bad off and is lucky to be alive, and an RA really messed up and it just makes me mad to think about. As the head Campus Cadet put it, “How f***ing irresponsible of the RA!”
Next, we headed to a call at the Godwin bus stop for a drunk in public. Well, there was a girl that was very drunk in public with her three friends. The girls were ridiculous: screaming, shouting, crying… and the entire time Taylor & I were just laughing because they had no idea that their one friend was totally going to be arrested. Officer Mills was the responding officer & we were just back up. Mills gave the girl a breathalyzer and she blew a .25…. yeah not drunk at all! LOL! Needless to say, she was placed under arrest. Her friends went ballistic and started crying and yelling some more. They were like, “Can we go with her?” And the Campus Cadet said under his breath, “You don’t wanna go where she’s going!” & of course Taylor & I started cracking up even more. Well the three bimbos were interfering, so Officer Mills had to be like, “There’s plenty more room in the backseat for more of you!”
