different job. But for most of us, this is a calling. Someone has to help the people. My wife and daughters understand that.”
Of course they do, Tommy wanted to say. Why couldn’t his mother be like them? Maybe she just needed time to get used to the idea. Tommy hoped so.
Once they were inside the squad car, the man explained that the vehicle’s floor was made entirely of rubber. No carpet at all. “Nothing to slow us down if we need to enter or exit quickly.”
Detective Lockwood then pointed out the brake pedal. “It’s larger than normal. Easier for us to stop in a hurry if a crime is in progress.”
In the door there were white envelopes. “For tickets,” the detective explained. “And you’ll see hand sanitizer there. Which we need more than you’d think.”
On the center console was a laptop on a swivel. “The computer gives us options police officers didn’t have in the old days. It’s loaded with programs that help us run plates, check IDs on suspects and write reports.”
Beneath that was a built-in radio with a microphone and a series of switches. “The microphone is constantly connected to dispatch. Same with the one on our uniform.” He tapped the receiver unit near his shoulder. Then he pointed to a switch on the console. “Flip this and everything’s on. Lights, sirens. Back lights. And the wall of light for a traffic stop. All of it ready for action.”
Tommy was mesmerized. He’d never been inside a police car before, and what he’d seen on Cops couldn’t compare to being here in person.
“And of course our spotlight.” Detective Lockwood put his left hand on a shiny knob near the windshield frame. “This helps us see addresses or people we’re looking for.”
Tommy looked over his shoulder to the backseat. “The containment area is only on one side of the car?”
“Not for all police vehicles, but for this one, yes.” The detective nodded to the open seat. “Once in a while we need to transport a citizen for noncriminal reasons. An elderly person, or someone lost. That sort of thing. Obviously we don’t use the containment area for those situations.”
Every detail made Tommy more thrilled about being out on the road.
Detective Lockwood pointed to the other side of the backseat. “This suspect containment area is pretty typical. Hard plastic. Nowhere to hide anything—drugs or weapons. Plexiglass all the way around the top. That way we can see whoever’s back there, but they can’t spit on us or harm us in any way.”
Tommy noticed the bars on the window. “Are those new? I haven’t seen that before.”
“You’d be surprised how easily a suspect can kick out a window. The bars protect us and the suspect.”
At the top of the inside roofline, the detective pointed out a compact printer. “We run off tickets right here in the vehicle. That keeps the simple traffic infractions legible and quick. Much nicer than a handwritten ticket.”
The ride-along started with basic patrol time. “We check out the city’s most crime-ridden areas, looking for victims in need of assistance. Sometimes we pick up a drug dealer or two. But as soon as we get a call, that takes precedence.”
Detective Lockwood cruised from the station to Haughville, one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Indianapolis, he told Tommy. “We have an epidemic of drugs and gang activity in this area. A police presence here is critical.”
In recent weeks, Tommy had done his research about the IMPD. The last officer killed in the line of duty had been in 2014, and a number of others had lost their lives in the decade before that. Beyond that were a number of high profile cases from around the country where police officers were convicted of murder because their wrongful actions resulted in the death of a suspect.
The job was incredibly tough, and not all cops were good. Tommy knew that.
But considering the way many big-city communities had turned on their police departments, the IMPD still had a fairly good relationship with its citizens.
Even in the toughest areas.
A few years ago the department hosted a lip-sync challenge to a Justin Timberlake song, and nearly a hundred community members took part in the video. The resulting YouTube clip only further improved relations with the city.
But here in Haughville, Tommy couldn’t imagine many of the residents were thrilled to see a police car coming their way. Sure enough, a few minutes later Detective Lockwood radioed for backup. “See that.” He nodded to a trio of