Week Two of Fighting Crime in Shaker Heights

With my second week of project complete, I think it's safe to say that there is never a dull moment at the SHPD. This past week, Halle and I have observed court/arraignments, been out on more ride-a-longs, worked with detectives, observed the dispatchers at work, and even got some time at the range. While I could easily go into depth and share many stories about each thing we did this week, I'll spare you the boredom and just share three highlights.

1.) Witnessing an arrest!!
Oh yes, I did in fact see an arrest happen this week. A warrant for a woman's arrest came up when the officer I was doing my ride-a-long with ran her license plate. Upon pulling her over, the officer told her why she was pulled over and then waited for a confirmation of the warrant. When we received the confirmation from dispatch (and also got another police car to the scene), the officer cuffed her and placed her in the back of our car. The woman had a passenger in her car, but since he did not have a valid license, the car she was driving had to be towed (something she was quite displeased about....more so than the fact that she was being arrested). The officer I was with had to search her car, leaving me alone in the car with the arrested woman. Needless to say, it was incredibly awkward. The warrant for this woman's arrest was active in another city, meaning the SHPD cannot take her into custody. So instead, we had to drive to a meeting spot to hand her over to the correct jurisdiction. Definitely an exciting afternoon out on the road.

2.) Visiting a "crime scene."

I put the phrase "crime scene" in quotations because it was not technically a crime scene; it was more a scene of an incident. On Thursday, I was with the detectives when a call came in. Apparently, a man was out mowing the lawn, and he happened to have a gun in his pocket. Somehow, the gun discharged, injuring the man. His wife made the 911 call. When officers first arrived to the scene, the man said he was not mowing the lawn at all but checking the air in his tires. Upon further questioning, the stories between the wife and the man did not add up, leading officers and detectives to think that they were not telling the police something. I went with a detective to the scene because he needed to do a gun residue test. The scene was buzzing when we got there; about six cop cars were present, along with an ambulance. The street was blocked off for through traffic. The man was already in the ambulance when I got there, so I didn't see anything too bloody. I originally stayed out on the street (I didn't want to get in the way of the process), but one of the detectives beckoned me onto the lawn and told me to get right in there with everyone else. So I got to listen in when the police asked the wife more questions, and I got to observe when officers tried to recreate the scenario and search for the missing bullet casing. The injured man is alright, by the way. They took him to the hospital, and he's doing fine. In all, the police decided the the gun discharging was an accident, although there is just a little more investigating that needs to be done.

And finally (best for last)...

3.) Time at the range

Halle and I actually got to shoot at the range twice this week. With help from an officer, we learned how to load and shoot a handgun, an MP-5, and an M-4 (the gun which the military uses). The MP-5 and the M-4 can either shoot single round or multi-round (I'm not sure the correct term for it is), which is like a machine gun effect. Our first time around we were only allowed to shoot on single round, but on our second day at the range, the officer let us try putting it on the machine gun-type mode. It was pretty alarming, especially on the M-4 since it has a kickback to it. But we both had a lot fun down there, and we're hoping to try to shoot again at least once more before project is over.

Yikes, this was much longer than I had planned. So for those who dozed off while reading, my apologies. Hopefully you'll wake up to see the pictures below.

<-- Me rockin' my bulletproof vest.

<-- Halle in the bite suit. I talked about this a little bit in my last post (I think?). Well, in case I didn't, we got see a K-9 demonstration in our first week, and Halle volunteered to put on the bite suit and have a police dog bite her. Sorry for the blur.

^The MP-5 I shot. It's quite heavy. The big round black barrel with the duct tape around it towards the front of the gun is like a silencer.

<-- The M-4. It's even heavier. Kind of pathetic, but my arm is a bit sore from it...

<--And the handgun.

Well, that does it for this post. Hope everyone's projects are going well!

-Becky