Police Ride-along
Doing a ride-along with the Baltimore Police is a very interesting experience. The Police Department wants people to do this so that we can experience some of the things that they experience.Young children love the police, but once they get to middle and high school, their attitude changes unless we can reach them. It does not help if we talk less about the one percent bad cop and more about the99% who want to do a good job. If you want to talk about problems wth the Baltimore Police, please do not bring up an incident which happened in Michigan or California. That tells me that your mind is already made up to be against Baltimore and you are not really interested in the truth.
Most police officers do not want to make arrests. One officer told me "the most depressing part of this job is to make arrests or to write tickets." When asked how often have they used their guns, most said that they have not and one said, "I prefer it that day." Others said that they hope that they never have to use their guns.
I have seen many cases in which the police could easily had arrested an individual, but made a point of not doing so. Most arrests which I have seen occurred because the officer had no choice or the individual talked himself into an arrest.
In one of the below photos, an individual of interest was seen at a convenience store on Gay Street. Seven officers were on the scene when I arrived and the individual was in custody. His five-year old son and seven-year old daughter were in the back seat of the car and she was in tears. One officer came up to her and said, "My name is Jason. What's yours?" A woman across the street yelled to her, "Don't talk to the police." What would had happened if this were Ukraine or El Savador? An officer gave me money to buy juice for the children.
Officer Beebe arrived on the scene and took the children into her car where she and fun things for them to do, including watching a movie on her cell phone. She told me that she loves children and this was obvious. I told the commissioner about it that even at ArtScape.
A woman who at first was antagonistic towards the police apologized to the officer with whom I was riding and she said, "The messed up part about this is that he had his kinds in the car."
The next week Officer Talbert was fantastic with children on two different calls.
We responded to a missing child report and while there, these children approached us. This is a graeat sign.
Pastor Arturo and Officer Arroyo both speak Spanish.
Officer Beebe was fantastic with these two children.
We did not get a chance to go for a spin on te boats, but it was nice being there.
We were looking at the camera for two individuals of interest.
The buildings across the street from the Southeastern District were demolished.
The Police Department and Fire Department work together very closely.
This fare was on the same block as Shot Tower.
As a community chaplain, I try to get houses like these boarded up when needed.
I also look out for issues with MTA and report them.
Everybody deserves to ave a very pleasant working environment.
A neighbor of mine shows a day care center less than two blocks away from this fire.
This fire was just minutes after the previous fire shown above.
This shack is outside the previous location of Negro Baseball League stadium.
Officer Centrone is with a retired police officer and his family.