Cops: ordinary people with extraordinary responsibilities

By Celina Holmes

WASHINGTON

We all have our own personal opinions and perceptions of cops. Like many people with little respect for authority, we imagine a cop as an aging 40-year-old behind a police desk or counter, his portly belly mushrooming out over his belt. Or, for those us who aren't such jaded cynics, we imagine a cop or law enforcement officer as that characteristically young guy who darts down the street in valiant pursuit of purse-snatchers and armed robbers.

A cop is a man of action and craft, a figure of colorful peculiarities and great resourcefulness. He's the young, eager detective like Mel Gibson held in contrast with the hardened veteran Danny Glover in "Lethal Weapon." Like Ethan Hawke in "Training Day," he's a detective in training, alien to the corruption among law enforcement officers. For all we know, he's no ordinary citizen.

But he men in blue are just like me and you (forgive the rhyme). I'm no longer fooled by what I see in the movies, on "Cops" (the reality show home to the Fox network) or by the improvised antics parodied in Comedy Central's popular show "Reno 911."

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a police ride-along in the Fifth Metropolitan Police District of Washington, D.C., (popularly abbreviated as 5D) on a Thursday night last month.

Unlike in the movies, the dividing line between danger and safety does not completely disappear as the day collapses into night in the North East sector of the city. In 5D, crime occurs at all times of the day. The area is renowned for its prostitution rings, drug deals, armed robberies, home burglaries, neighborhood shootings, and its high rate of poverty and homelessness.

The cops with whom I was paired were not like cops in the movies. For one, they're not cops with suicidal tendencies, willing and ready to risk everything to apprehend a suspect.

But they do, like their Hollywood counterparts, help uncover drug-smuggling rings and make routine traffic stops that evolve into fast-moving chases. With an average of 15 police patrol cars on the North East streets every night, a typical night patrol answers 10 to 30 calls broadcast over the police radio.

It just so happened that my night out with the cops included interacting with the mentally disturbed, investigating the broken door of an illegally inhabited apartment, responding as the sixth patrol car to the scene where a man was shot in the shin for a drug-related transaction, and combing the streets for an armed robbery suspect.

My first-hand experience is one that I'm proud of and excited to share with others. Real life police officers are just regular guys and gals who know that guns are not the best way to apprehend criminals.

From riding along with the cops, I definitely gathered a new respect for what they do.

Sure, you may run into the sharp-shooting rookie or a seen-it-all veteran, but you'll never know who they really are or what they really do unless you stop - and take a ride with a cop.

Celina Holmes is a senior English and political science major.