Ride Along

To anyone that has anything to do with law enforcement, you know that a ride along means you sit in the front seat with your honey (in my case!) and “ride along” with them while they’re on duty. It’s one of my favorite things to do with Kyle. I love seeing his professional side. He is so confident, level headed, personable and more than competent at his job and I love seeing that come out. When he comes home he turns into that Kyle that we all know and love and puts his teasing, goofy hat on. But observing him on duty is a different story. He’ll be comical and lighthearted when the situation is appropriate, and calm and stern when he needs to.

Yesterday I decided I felt good enough to go on a ride along.

Kyle came home for lunch. We had leftovers from the meals that are STILL coming in from helpful family and friends. I said a few prayers in my heart that I’d be able to last on our outing without a toilet nearby. I’m STILL trying to kick this nasty C. Diff problem.

I took a couple pain pills to make sure my back could handle sitting up. You can’t recline the passenger seat in his cruiser because the ‘cage’ sits right behind it. I went to the potty – a couple times – to make sure no emergencies would come up. I grabbed my sunglasses, put on a cardigan, and chose a pillow to stuff behind my back while sitting in the car.

Then I had a debate inside. I had slippers on. Should I change into regular shoes? Should I stay in slippers? I’ve never had to get out of the car on a ride along before. I ran a couple scenarios through my head of situations I’d have to jump ship and maybe run away from the car in which shoes other than slippers would be helpful. Nah, fat chance. The slippers stayed on.

We decided to go south towards Blanding. One of the troopers dogs just had a puppy. Yeah just one. I wanted to go see it. We made a couple traffic stops on the way down and then an ATL (attempt to locate) came out over the radio. That is where some outstanding citizen calls 911 to report something out of the ordinary. In this case, it was a reckless driver, believed to be DUI. We just happened to be in the area. Awesome. I should’ve jumped out and hitchhiked home then and there.

We soon rolled up on the accused. Several other units rolled up within the next few minutes to provide assistance if needed, including our Sheriff. From the front seat I watched Kyle and his expertise in doing some FST’s (field sobriety tests) on the woman driver of the car. She was indeed, impaired. I roll down the window and chat with Sheriff Eldredge while all this is happening. We are so lucky to have him in our county.

Kyle handcuffs the woman and escorts her to the car. She sits in the cage right behind me. Then he closes the door and proceeds to finish up business outside. So here I am. Inside. With a lady my husband has just arrested. And she’s literally breathing down my neck. So I do what any decent human being would do… “Hi. I can see from your driver’s license your name is Sherrie. I’m Trooper Curtis’ wife.” Long pause… Awkward. Come ON Kyle! She eventually laughs a little. What is going on? “Have you ever seen your husband arrest someone?” she asks. I have not, I tell her. It was actually kinda neat to see that side of him I explain. “Bet you didn’t plan on spending your day like this, did you Sherrie?” We both kind of laugh and then she opens up a little and tells me why she was driving drunk, tearfully. It was sad, actually. I was starting to relax a little and enjoyed her company. She started to get a little chatty.

Then it hit me. Every time she opened her mouth she was blowing copious amounts of alcohol-tinged breath my direction. I start to feel queasy. Oh gosh, this is bad news. She won’t stop TALKING! I open the car door and vomit right at Sheriff Eldredge’s feet. Ha just kidding. But I really needed to. I could feel that my face was green. Just in the nick of time Kyle comes back. We leave the scene. I keep the window rolled down so the fresh air clears out the green. I don’t give a second thought to whether I’m blowing Sherrie out behind me. She could use fresh air too.

Kyle makes great conversation on the way back to Monticello to the jail. He kindly explains to Sherrie how even though her life sucks right now, she doesn’t need to be breaking the law and putting the lives of others in danger by operating her car while impaired. He asks if she’s getting enough air (she was), if her cuffs were not too tight, etc. He is a gentleman, even on duty. He was so great. He looks at me. I’m feeling much better by now. “You know I have to get you home now.” Yeah, I nod. Kyle calls ahead to find someone on duty who can pick me up to take me home.

We pull up to the jail and I have to get out before Kyle proceeds to drive into the lockdown area. So my hour and a half ride with Kyle comes to an end. A quick peck on the cheek for my Trooper and a “Nice to meet you Sherrie,” I get out and step right into a mud puddle. I dodge my 8 1/2 month pregnant body around mud puddles all the way to Sgt. Randall’s car, who is to take me home. Remember how I’m still in slippers? Ug.

Kyle’s Sgt. just laughs as I get in. He’s been out of town for a few days, last he heard I’d hurt my back and thought I was to lay flat in bed for the rest of this pregnancy. He jokes that “One week you’ve got a broken back, the next you’re out catching drunks? What a life you live!” And true that is!

About an hour later Kyle comes back home to pick me up. We go back down to Blanding with no crazy detours where I finally get to hold that cute newborn puppy. And I was still wearing my slippers.