Theresa D.'s Experience at the Police Station

Last Saturday I visited the police station and I had a great experience. I shadowed Sgt. Sopcak. I got there a little before 8 in the morning and stayed until the end of a shift which was at around 1:30pm. 8 A.M is when they do the last roll call for the day, so I got there at a good time. All of the police men and women go into a conference room and the watchman assigns them on where they will be taking the cars for the day. A few people were assigned to go to a protest downtown and others would look for traffic violations. After roll call, they are issued radios. One of the officers told me that having the radio can be more powerful than having a gun in situations because you always know that there will be someone there for backup. Saturday mornings are slow at the station, but there were a few people who came in to report accidents and there was a missing person reported. I sat behind the main desk for most of the day and I saw how they track where the police cars are located throughout the city and I saw how the surveillance cameras work in the city. They also have a special room that has two officers in it that work with things like domestic abuse victims and the elderly. Before I left, Sgt. Sopcak took me to see the jail cells. There were not any prisoners in the one that I looked in, but they did have prisoners there. This station was a men’s only station, so they only keep male prisoners. I really enjoyed the station and I had a good day! I can see myself being a police officer.