The Journal of Michael Merriam

careswen and I are taking part in a Hopkins Citizens Academy, a six week, one night a week, series of classes designed to educate the citizens of Hopkins on what exactly the various city departments do, how they are run, their budgets, and other pertinent information.

Few weeks ago was class at the Police Department, where they talked about the number of sworn officers the city employs, typical types of calls, community crime stats, rules of engagement and rules for use of force, a tazer demo, police outreach programs, history of the department, and a mock traffic stop, with citizens dressed in full protective gear making a traffic stop. One of the benefits was that participants in the Citizens Academy were invited to sign up for ride-alongs. careswen and I both jumped at the chance.

I'll let careswen talk about her ride-along in her own post, but I will say her ride along (from 6 pm to 10 pm on a Friday night) was more—eventful—than mine (from 2 pm to 6 pm on a Thursday afternoon). We started off with a trespassing call and drove all over the area. It seems this person is wanted for multiple trespassing incidents, and the apartment complex has a restraining order, but he keeps eluding the Hopkins PD. My guy wanted him bad. We'll get back to that later.

We did a disabled vehicle call (out of gas) before passing that one to the community relations officer. We had a group of teenagers pull a fire alarm in an apartment. We looked for the trespasser again. We helped a woman whose car broke an axle in an intersection. We caught our trespasser (we were driving by the apartments and there he was, out in front of the office). We ran some plates and followed a suspicious vehicle. He showed me where he worked a drug sting operation while part of a state-wide task force. We followed-up on a gas drive-off. It was cold and quiet that day, and my officer said I should ask to do it again, since nothing much happened.

It was neat seeing how high-tech the cars are. They are online, with a wireless Panasonic Tough Book that connects them instantly to databases, allows them to chat with other officers, updates information from dispatch, and let's them run plates and DLs instantly. The cars also have cameras that record everything, once the lights are turned on, and then feeds real time back to the PD so a dispatcher or supervisor can watch the stop as it happens. Everything is recorded.

The officer himself was personable, funny, and frank about his job, which I enjoyed. I asked him who I would talk to if I had any questions, especially as a writer. He told me to call and ask for the community liaison officer and she would point me to the right person. I may sign up to do it again.

That night we had Citizens Academy at the fire department. The Hopkins FD is a primarily volunteer department , with one full-time employee, two part-times, and the rest paid when they come in on a call. We got to see some of the equipment in action, including going up on the new ladder truck (great view of the city). We put out a small fire with fire extinguishers. Got a good look at the HazMat unit (we have one of the best in the area) and we dressed in full kit and worked a hose. I cannot imagine working in an emergency in such heavy gear.

careswen is considering signing up for the Community Emergency Response Team after she finishes grad school. My civil defense days are long over, what with my vision and all, but I am considering volunteering for one of the city commissions, especially the civil rights commission.

Over all, though I could have wished for a little more action on my ride-along, it was good to see how these to crucial departments work. I walked away with a whole new appreciation for both the PD and the FD.