Week 3

In this past week I finally got the ride alongs that I had been hoping for and they were very interesting and eye opening. They were eye opening because I realized how dumb some people can be and also how interesting it seems to be a police officer. With all the different details and not knowing what will happen when you make a stop seems like something I would definitely be interested in doing. Before working at the police station I don't know if I ever would have thought about being a police officer, but now I am very intrigued.

Day 14

today was the last day I would be at the police station. I walked into an empty office because jill was taking a long weekend for Memorial Day and jason was in court. However they did leave me plenty of dispositions that needed to be entered which took me until jason arrived with more cases to break down later in the day.

Day 13 part 2

Today after my normal time at the prosecution office I was scheduled for my last ride along. Today I was with officer verdonck. Her and I were on the red light detail which meant we were mainly focused on people that went through red lights. We were parked in a school parking lot next to a light where there was a sign that stated no right on red, but even with us being within 50 feet of it people still went right on red. it was funny when officer verdonck would come back to the car and tell me that they denied doing it or that they didn't know they couldn't even though it was clearly stated they couldn't. Also they went through the red light without even stopping before going right which made it worse for them.

Day 13 part 1

Today I was met by a stack of papers when I walked into the office. I started writing the dispositions into the computer and then filing them away. Also I had to make title pages for Jason's upcoming court dates. I have pretty much fully caught jill up with all of her extra work which is helpful for her now being able to spend more time on cases. There's a new intern who will be taking my place from unh who will be able to help jill for the rest of the summer.

Day 12 part 2

Again today in order to make up for missed hours I was scheduled for a ride along 4-8 this afternoon. Today I was with officer Owen. We drove around for a whole and then dispatch called for our assistance in a chase that the spd had been involved in earlier in the day where they had to call off the chase because the car was going around buses so it was too dangerous to continue perusing the guy. This time however they weren't going to let him get away. Us along with most of the other officers on duty at the time rushed to the border of Methven mass and Salem where the suspect was headed. Unfortunately for us the mass state police got the guy to turn into a dead end road where he was apprehended. The rush of hopefully being part of catching the guy was crazy. It would have been awesome had he made it to salem because they had a spike strip ready to throw out at his car. Luckily though a dangerous man with any illegal weapons charges was taken off the streets.

Day 12 part 1

Today when I arrived at 8 there was a stack of papers that needed to be entered into the computer then filed away and a folder that I needed to scan for Jason because of a discovery request. Then I did most of the same the rest of the day in the prosecution office. For the most part Jill and I have caught up with all the dispositions and filing.

Day 11 part 2

because I missed some hours I will also be doing ride alongs 4-8 after I do te normal 8-2 with the prosecutor. While on the ride along I had the chance to ask the officer some questions. I asked about trends that he sees in people and crimes and he told me that heroin is the most common thing he sees now.  There were 3 heroin overdoses in Salem this past weekend and 2 were fatal. I also asked about what it is like to be a police officer and he said that it's fun, exciting, and sometimes scary because you never know what's going to happen when you make a stop, but he says that he really enjoys it. When j asked if people often leave for later cities he said that more often than not Salem cops won't leave because they are in the top 5 biggest agencies in New Hampshire so there's no need to. He also said he tries to leave work at the door so he doesn't stress while he's at home trying to be a regular person. He also said its hard to be a regular person outside of the police department because if he were to mess up and get arrested then I would be big news that a police officer was arrested. He said he is able to leave it at the office, but is always watching his back and checking oncoming cars for their stickers just out of habit.