A few days ago, a good friend of mine arranged for a “ride along” in a police patrol car because of my interest in understanding law enforcement, the prison system, and the mental health crisis in the Detroit community.
I was assigned a half day shift with two police officers from a precinct in Detroit (DPD (Detroit Police Department) has 12 precincts): Officer A, a white man and Officer B, a woman of color. Both officers asked me to call them by their first name and were extremely courteous. The shift was from 3 PM to 7 PM and I was scheduled for the first half. I was given a bulletproof vest to wear for the duration of my shift. We started with a visit to the gas station. I offered to buy them drinks and snacks as a thank you, but they politely refused and paid for everything on their own.
I asked the officers if they were CIT-trained (Crisis Intervention Training) to which they said no. As we took off from the gas station, it seemed as if not much was going on. So I asked them if it is going to be an easy day and they both laughed and told me to just wait a couple minutes.
Officer B, who was in the passenger seat, had a laptop that showed her all the 911 calls coming in from all the precincts and had to scroll down to see the calls for the specific precinct (I asked her why the screen can’t just default to her precinct calls, she said that would be very nice but there is no option to select a precinct). Each call was given a priority on the screen. Only in the case of Priority 1 did they turn on their lights and sirens and take off down the road.
Our first call was from a woman who was saying that someone was trying to break into her house. By the time we reached, the matter was resolved. That somebody was the owner of the house who had eviction orders and was knocking on the door. The lady agreed to move out.
Our second call was related to DV (Domestic Violence). A man had threatened to slash his wife’s tires, but by the time we reached, the situation was under control and the wife told us everything had been resolved.
Our third call was about a medical emergency where an older woman had pressed the panic button by mistake. When we reached, she admitted to the mistake, which Officer A had predicted as we were driving there.
Our fourth call was a Priority 1 call. Officer A turned the light and siren on and we started flying, really flying. For the first time in my life I experienced how dangerous this can be. I was in the back seat and did not have my seat belt on and had a really hard time trying to put it on as we raced. I had to hold on for dear life until we reached our destination.
When we reached, there were already 3-4 police cars there and more arrived soon along with a helicopter hovering above. I was told that there was an 18 yr old boy who was walking in the middle of the street and was told by cops to move to the side. He resisted and another 17 yr old came to his defense and hit the officer with a backpack (the kids were returning from school at that time of the day). Both the kids were arrested and were in the back of a police car. One older man shouted at the police officers telling them they were profiling, and the cops were yelling back at him and saying that he had no idea what happened and that he was wrong. I saw another cop talking to a Black kid who was protesting arrest. The situation was pretty much under control but I was surprised to see 10-12 officers at the spot and a helicopter above. Officers were asked to go inform the mother of the minor, so we went to her house. Once the mom was informed of the situation, she drove back immediately behind us.
I asked both the officers why so much force had been used and they said they needed to keep the situation under control so that things don’t get out of hand. I asked what kind of charges these kids are going to face and was told that they will be most likely charged with a felony. When I heard that my heart sank, knowing that if this charge sticks and the kids are convicted, their lives will never be the same. A felony strips away so many rights in this country. The officers and I kept talking about this, and their point was that this was an assault on an officer and there is a price to pay for that. They said there are neighborhoods where they have to keep their antenna up because kids there behave very differently than in other neighborhoods. Officer A also told me that in his five years of service he has been shot at twice, and one of the bullets was just a few inches from him.
This was very distressing for me. I asked them if there are any programs by the DPD where they go and talk to kids, so there is more trust between them and youth. I was told that there is a special Neighborhood Policing unit which takes care of that. The officers I was with were “Patrol Officers” and it is not part of their job. We agreed to disagree on the point that these kids/youth are going through lots of things including having lots of hormones and observing what’s always happening between Black people and police. The officers point of view was that they have a job to do and it is the responsibility of parents to teach their kids how to behave with officers. I asked them many questions and they replied politely and at length. They did not sugarcoat anything. They told me exactly the way they felt. I saw no difference between how they felt either. They were pretty much in sync.
The first two hours flew by fast. We came back to the precinct HQ to take a bathroom break and after 15-20 minutes, we were back into action.
Our fifth call was from KFC. First I thought we might be going to KFC to pick up some food, but turns out it was a real call. The manager of the KFC (it was open for drive thru only) told us that somebody threw a glass of soda at her face from the car. She thought they captured the license plate of the lady but that was not the case. Officers told her that unless she gives them some identifying information, they cannot do much except write an incident report. The manager also showed other videos where somebody threatened her with a knife and another time when she was verbally abused. Officers told her that this KFC location should consider signing up for the “Green Light” program, which businesses can become part of by paying $10,000 per year to receive priority treatment on calls etc.
Our sixth call was a false alarm where somebody called about a suspicious car.
Our seventh and final call was about a baby girl who was not being returned to her lawful father. When we reached the scene, a car was waiting for us. Inside was a man and a woman. The woman could speak English and told us that they are here to pick up the man’s daughter (4 yrs old) from the nearby house but they are not answering the door. The officers knocked on the door and finally after a few minutes, an old lady responded. She told the officers that she had notified another man, and he would be bringing the baby shortly. This man was the ex-husband of the now-deceased wife of the man in the car. The wife had just passed away a month back or so. The man in the car spoke only Spanish so officers called for a Spanish speaking officer.
The ex-husband arrived with the baby, and she was clearly very attached to him. He said this man (in the car) though a real father, has never taken care of this baby and is a drunk. He said that he (the man in the car) asked to meet over the weekend and never showed up and he is unfit to take care of this baby.
The baby started crying when she was told that she might have to go with her biological father. It was very emotional for all. Officers checked on birth certificates and names and licenses of everybody involved and came to the conclusion that the baby needs to go with the biological father (the man in the car). But to confirm, they called CPS (Child Protective Services) and described the whole situation and CPS agreed.
Now the question was how they would transport the baby as they did not have a car seat. The man who brought the baby had the car seat but would not lend it to this man and woman in the car, questioning how they can come to pick up a baby without the car seat, again stating that the man (biological father) is unfit to take care of the baby. Officers called CPS again and asked them if the baby can be transported without the child seat and they gave a go ahead. This whole thing took more than an hour to resolve, involved 4 officers, and a call to CPS. Everybody could tell that the biological father was not fit to take care of the baby but they had no choice. The baby cried a great deal when she was handed over and that made all of us quite emotional. I wonder if the cops are really needed in this situation. It felt to me that this should have been handled by some other non-police organization.
It was 7 PM and I was driven back to the HQ as my time had come to an end. I was exhausted and could not imagine riding along for another four hours. But these officers were going back to do just that.
Before I left, I took a photograph with the police officers. I also met the officers who were the first on the scene where the two kids were arrested. They asked me how it was and I told them I am still thinking about those two kids and what a felony charge could do to their lives. They asked me “do you want to see the video of what happened?” I am not sure why, but I said no, maybe out of fear that it would cause me distress. I wish I had watched it, it would have answered so many questions for me. I could tell those officers were absolutely sure that they did the right thing.
I did tell them this “ride along” was a very educational experience for me. I told them that unfortunately you guys are not just cops but mediators, counselors, negotiators, all in one. Your job is a very tough and demanding one. They nodded in agreement.
Driving back, though exhausted, my mind was swirling with all kinds of thoughts, particularly about those two kids. I was thinking about whether it was their first time in jail, and how they are doing in there. What are their parents going through now? How would this incident affect the life of their family going forward? Are these two kids bound to become another statistic, as 1 in 3 Black men face incarceration in their lifetimes? Is jail really the best place to send these kids?
My thoughts/questions on my experience:
1. Shouldn’t it be the job of every officer to interact with the community? Learn about the community by talking to them in normal circumstances, not only when it is a high wire situation. Particularly talking to Black men who are so apprehensive about the police in general, and white officers in particular. Both police and these men need to tell each other their stories and apprehensions.
2. Why are cops being called to handle so many civil situations when their primary job is to deal with criminal situations?
3. Shouldn’t all cops be required to formally learn about the community they serve and protect? What forums and mechanisms should be in place for broader interaction? Should the cops who serve a community come from that community?
4. Why is “show of force” the way to deescalate a situation, why can’t we have a “show of love” to calm down a situation? I wonder what a pastor or an Imam or a neighborhood elder would do when they see a kid walking in the middle of the street.
5. Cops in DPD are really overworked. Instead of the term “defunding” we should talk about “updating the funding,” so that cops have enough resources but so do social workers, mental health professionals, etc. who should be working in tandem with the police. When will politicians come together to really do something about updating the way we police?
6. Is militarizing our police a good thing? When did we start treating our citizens as enemy combatants?
7. The U.S. spent $300 million dollar per day for the last 20 years for the war in Afghanistan. What if we had spent half that amount on our downtrodden communities? Would it halt the school to prison pipeline, which I witnessed an example of during my very short 4 hour stint?
8. Is it better to send young men to some sort of rehabilitation rather than sending them to jail? To house somebody in jail, it costs ~$160 per night. And what good does it really do for an 18 yr old boy? How does it help us grow as a society when our solution to those who act out or make mistakes is to lock them up like animals?
I would love to hear about what you think about my thoughts and questions I have raised.
