Despite the fact that I’ve always loved reading crime novels and obsessed over television shows like “CHIPs” and “Law & Order,” I have never really considered a career in law enforcement.
My father is a retired New York City Police Officer, and at various points in my life has tried to urge me in that direction. While I’ve always had the utmost respect for men and women who choose to protect and serve, I’ve just never seen myself in uniform.
Until yesterday. When I found myself zooming down the road in a police vehicle, lights and sirens blaring, in hot pursuit of a pick up truck with a suspended registration. It was then that I realized perhaps I had missed my calling. What an adrenaline rush!
I do love my current job, don’t get me wrong. After all, it’s why I got the chance to ride shotgun with the Oxford Police Department in the first place. Yesterday was the second half of a two part ride-a-long with the department’s esteemed leader, Chief Rich Nolan.
The first half took place on Nov. 14, when I joined the chief in the wee hours of the morn to write a few parking tickets. To allow for snow removal and the like, the Village of Oxford has parking ordinances that go into effect from Nov.1 to April 30 prohibiting on-street parking between the hours of 3 and 6 a.m.
It was around 5 a.m. when the chief and I hit the streets in the oldest of the department’s two patrol cars, a Chevy Impala which will likely be replaced in the next year.
There wasn’t much traffic at that early hour and we only gave two of the parking violation tickets, which carry a $35 fine. There was plenty of time to chat as we made our rounds of the seemingly sleepy streets.
But apparently, Oxford isn’t as sleepy as it looks.
“The village is really busy with criminal activity,” the chief told me. That crime, much of which is fueled by alcohol and drugs, is his department’s first priority.
Traffic enforcement is secondary, he explained, but he is well aware his jurisdiction has a bit of a reputation for nabbing speeders. It’s not necessarily the number of tickets written that contributes to this perception, he said, but the fact that he and his officers keep visible in the community especially along South Canal Street (Route 12).
The chief and his officers spend as little time in the office and as much time as possible out on patrol. Nolan even encourages them to do paperwork in the car, because he feels the patrol car’s presence can deter would-be law breakers.
“We stop a lot of crime just being visible,” he explained
Nolan’s strategy appears to be paying off. He’s estimating that complaints this year will be down about 400 from the 3,000 filed in 2007. He believes that the number would be as much as three times higher if his department kept a lower profile on the streets.
I enjoyed the time cruising around the village that Friday morning, but it was nothing compared to the second installment of my mini-internship. When I caught up with the chief at around 11 a.m. yesterday, I was happy to see that I’d get to ride around in the department’s new vehicle, a Dodge Durango.
Oxford acquired the Durango just this summer, thanks to a grant from Senator Thomas Libous. If there was a show called “Pimp My Police Cruiser,” this SUV could well be the result. It is loaded with high-tech systems including cameras, recording devices, a laptop with electronic ticketing software and radar that projects to the front and rear of the vehicle.
Last but not least is the cutting edge License Plate Recognition equipment installed less than a week ago. The chief couldn’t wait to show it off. And he has every right to be proud: Oxford is the smallest law enforcement department in the county to have the system, which on its own is worth in excess of $23,000.
The total value for the Durango and all of the equipment installed in the vehicle is over $64,000. But thanks to grant writing work done off the clock by the chief and Officer Ron Martin, the total cost to the village’s taxpayers was only $1,000. That breaks down to something like 64 cents per resident. Now, that’s what I call bang for your buck.
The Mobile Plate Hunter, as it is called, is pretty amazing. Two scanners mounted to the SUV’s roof feed data to the laptop, which is synchronized daily with the state database. As we drove through downtown, it was literally picking up more than one plate per second. The system’s alarm sounds if it identifies a tag that is suspended, revoked or stolen.
Though the equipment was installed last week, it took a few days to get the kinks worked out. Yesterday was the first day it was fully operational. I had a front row seat for its first hit. The flashing red lights and sounding alarm almost gave me heart failure.
And then we were off, in pursuit of the vehicle. Safety is always first, so we had to wait for several additional cars to pass before we could pull out into traffic. That meant we had a bit of catching up to do, hence the lights and sirens.
When we did succeed in pulling over the motorist, I had a chance to witness the protocol observed in traffic stops. Dispatch is notified of where the stop takes place and the plate number. Nolan doesn’t get out of the car until this is verified. When he does approach the vehicle, it is with a portable microphone/recorder in his pocket, the camera recording and a constant eye on surrounding traffic.
Thanks to the technology, I could not only see what was happening, but hear it too. And when the suspended registration was confirmed, for lapsed insurance, I helped write the ticket. Well, type it, actually. Oxford uses the TRACS system and with a quick swipe of a hand-held scanner, most of the work is done.
The Durango even has a printer on board, which prints out the ticket and any supporting documentation. In no time flat, I had issued my first ticket.
Did I feel a little bad about it? Maybe, a little. But the chief assured me that we were doing the right thing.
“We’re getting a person off the road that shouldn’t be driving, period,” said Nolan. “They are suspended or revoked for a reason.”
Sure, there’s the thrill of the chase. But it didn’t take me long to realize that’s not why the chief is in law enforcement. He takes his oath to protect and serve very seriously. It is obvious that he cares immensely for the Oxford community.
In the twenty years he has been a member of the Oxford PD, he has developed an amazing rapport with local residents. As he patrol’s the village streets, pedestrians and drivers often wave. When he pulls over motorists, he explains his concerns about safety and avoiding accidents. I was impressed with his demeaner.
The chief is also always monitoring the police and fire radios to make sure that if someone needs assistance, he is there. We responded to one of those calls, a car in the ditch off New Virginia Road just outside of the village limits.
In short, Chief Nolan has all of the qualities one would hope to find in a small town police chief. And I, for one, think the Village of Oxford is lucky to have a law enforcement officer of his caliber leading the department. Thanks, Chief!