Best police experience EVER.. is that even possible?

Yes, it is. I know, you're used to having bad experiences with the police, right? Obviously, cause they're either telling you to get your drunk ass off the street or they're giving you speeding tickets when you're already running late to something.

I know.. I felt the same way. I was one of those people that ALWAYS complained about the cops. They're so rude, they're so stupid, they're mean, blah, blah, blah. Although I don't argue that there are asshole cops out there, you're going to find them in all sorts of professions. There are 5 Cincinnati PD cops in my Master's program and I love them all to death, they're the cutest things, so I asked the captain of Vortex (how legit does this name sound, huh?!), their special drug/weapons unit, to schedule me a ride-along. Because of it, I learned so much and I now have a new appreciation for all that cops do: the dangers they put themselves through, the risks they take, and everything that comes with the job.

I highly recommend going to your nearest police agency and doing a ride-along. BUT I can't promise it'll be as exciting as mine because I also had several hours where there was nothing.. so don't expect your ride-along to be adrenaline filled with guns and drugs.

I'll admit I was a little nervous. I was assigned to a female officer, named Tammy, who has been a cop for 14yrs (at first I thought to myself, "Oh, come on.. you didn't think I could handle a male officer?). I didn't give her enough credit. She was absolutely amazing and wanted me to get the most out of this ride-along, which is good because she tried really hard to find something.. anything haha. Every time something happened, she allowed me to get out, get up close, listen to questioning, etc.. (of course, she made sure it was safe first).

I got more scared when we first got in the car and she was explaining to me all the things I had to do if she got shot, if we were both getting shot at, if a suspect ran, etc.. let's just say, I was trying to memorize all this information as quickly as possible.

I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to discuss details on ALL that I saw so I won't (well, not on this blog anyway)... but I saw lots of drug deals, some hookers, saw a guy get arrested and brought him to jail, a drug bust, and more..

Definitely going to do another ride-along. Next time it'll be at night though. I couldn't do it at night this time around because Vortex wasn't assigned to work nights for this month or something. Anyway, schedule a ride-along!!! I promise.. it's worth it :)!