Web posted
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Police keep an eye on the city while it sleeps
By CHRIS ROBINETTE
Traveler Correspondent
Sgt. Luke Larson of the Ark City Police Department gets into his patrol car, and along with two others, they quietly leave the parking lot of the police department and slip onto Central Ave. They're taking the long route to a house on the south side of town that's supposedly hiding an escapee.
They pull up to the south side of the house about half a block down from it. The officers get out of their cars and head towards the house. Half an hour later, they emerge. Larson says they got the escapee.
Being an officer for the Ark City Police Department is a full time job, according to Larson. Larson has been with the ACPD for nine years, he's been a road officer for seven. Larson was promoted to Sergeant a year ago, which means that he's working the night shift.
Ark City calms down during the later parts of the night, the streets are mostly empty and the sidewalks harbor far fewer pedestrians than during the day, and even these numbers dwindle as the night drags on into the early morning hours.
Just because most Ark City residents are off the streets and in their homes at this time, however, doesn't mean that crime doesn't happen; police work is a 24 hour job, says Larson.
The ACPD recently rejuvenated a program that was started several years ago, "Night Eyes." The program is meant to keep an eye on local businesses. Officers go by businesses at night to check for signs of unusual or criminal activity.
One of Larson's duties during his nightly patrol is to comb through these businesses as he travels through his "beat," or the section of the city that he is assigned.
Larson pulls into the Casey's gas station on Summit St. and shines his spotlight through the windows, looking at the shelves inside, looking for signs of a break-in. He focuses the light on the door to check the deadbolt. Satisfied, he starts to leave the parking lot when he notices a brown sedan parked in the north west corner. Just to make sure there is nothing unusual about the car, he checks it out with his spotlight and calls the license plate number to verify that the vehicle isn't stolen. He does this with several businesses on his way up Summit St.
When Larson reaches the north tip of Summit St. he turns into Reedy Ford. He combs through the car lot using his spotlight to focus in on each vehicle, paying special attention to the blue boxes attached to the drivers window that houses the keys to each vehicle.
Seeing that everything looks normal he stops in front of the entry doors to the offices for the dealership and pulls out a small blue card, he writes down his name, the date, and any comments on what he found during his check of the property. The card is taped to the door for the owner to find in the morning.
The idea behind the card is to allow owners to know that their property is being watched by the police, and to notify them of anything unusual without having to wake them up.
"It has actually paid off for us here," says Larson, speaking of the program.
Officers change their routines constantly, deciding what roads to take and what parts of their sector to patrol. It's all a cumulative effort by the ACPD to outsmart criminals and battle theft and property damage by showing a presence and keeping tabs on Ark City businesses at night.
Heading south on 10th St., Larson sees a red 1990's Camaro driving slow in a 30 mph zone. Abnormally slow driving is a symptom of drunk driving that officers are trained to check for. He turns around and follows the driver for a couple blocks. The driver doesn't show anything unusual at first, aside from varying speed slightly. After a couple blocks he shows another common sign of driving under the influence; he starts to slide off the road, but he quickly re-corrects. This is repeated once more, and then the driver starts to slowly veer to the other side of the road, showing a third sign; driving left of center. Larson has seen enough to be worried, he decides to turn on his emergency lights and stop the driver. The driver pulls into a driveway, Larson radios the stop back to the station, and gets out to speak to the driver.
The driver is asked to step out of the vehicle by Larson for a DUI test, by now two other patrol cars have arrived. The driver, who doesn't speak much English, is explained the test as Larson demonstrates each step. After stumbling through the test, the driver is given the breathalyzer, where he blows above the legal limit. The driver apologizes and admits to having drank "a couple beers." He's then hand cuffed and put into the squad car to be taken back to the station. An interpreter is called to the station and the driver is placed in the holding room until the interpreter arrives.
Drunk driving is a problem that the ACPD constantly tries to combat. Larson says that they enforce the laws to help everyone, including the drivers that are stopped. He recounts a story where a driver stopped by Larson for a DUI approached him and thanked him, the driver expressed hope that the incident would change his drinking and driving habits.
The interpreter arrives at the police station and the test is administered with every step demonstrated and explained in spanish for the driver. He is asked to blow into the breathalyzer again, the driver again admits to having drank alcohol before driving. Larson is tied up at the station for a couple hours afterwards, dealing with the driver and the paperwork that follows.
These night shifts are hardly routine, the types of calls and the situations officers find themselves in change constantly, "No two calls are the same," Larson says. The level of criminal activity varies.
"Some nights you'll do nothing," says Larson, other nights are busy with a high amount of criminal activities and calls.
Ark City takes on a different rhythm at night, there are different things that officers look at as opposed to a day shift, such as the higher probability of drunk drivers. It's all part of being a patrol officer for the ACPD, the officers constantly had to adapt. It's a story repeated all over America in towns like Ark City.
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