Reporter gains insight on duty with police officer
By Susanne Steffens
It's Saturday, just about 7 p in.
For most people, it's just anoth
er evening full of fun and par
ties For me, it's going to be an
exc eptional evening Ins ause I'm
spending the evening on duty
with n Eugene pol».u officer.
With my notelrook and pencil,
my purpose is to reflect an
evening’s events from the eyes
of the police onto the h’merald
page
Going through my mind
before stepping into the polic e
car are major events like murder
and rape, hut. of course, Eugene
is no l.os Angeles. The primary
problems for the Eugene police
are criminal trespassing and
noise disturbances, and Offic er
Terry Fitzpatrick tells me in the
cor that
Rang
m o m -
b e r s
hanging
out together in Eugene is also
becoming a serious problem
both for the polii e and the pub
lic.
Fitzpatrick. 4,'t. is going to In*
my "teacher" tliis evening, and
while he is talking on the police
radio, mv eyes wander around
the <Jir to the equipment buttons
for the sirens and lights A shot
gun is placed in a holder almost
in front of me. and behind me is
the window that separates those
who've been arrested from the
officer
Our first stop is West Univer
sity Park, which has I income one
of the worst places around the
REPORTERS
IN OTEBOOK
campus area for (.rime Drug
users visit the park constantly.
and a number of people violate
the park hours by hanging out
then* during the night.
Right now. there are two tran
sients who are using the park,
sitting by one of the tables, and
we walk up to them for a little
( hat Fitzpatrick says the two are
well know n among the < ampus
police bec ause they have open
containers of alcohol on a regu
lar liasis Fairly intoxicated, they
are not causing any trouble and
the park is still open, so we say
goodbye and go Iwick to the car
It’s soon H pm, and by dri
ving around the campus area.
I'm beginning to learn one of the
most important duties of police
officers — observation Fitz
patrick says police officers can
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easily see lieer fxittles being hid
den and people running away
from locations With the evening
already in dark light. 1 squint my
eyes, trying to see anything sus
picious.
It is Fitzpatrick who sees
something first, on Hast 13th
Avenue outside of the Bijou
Theater. A transient named Jef
frey is sitting on the steps to the
entrance, so intoxicated that he
can hardly move. Fitzpatrick
tells me Jeffrey has lost a lot of
weight lately from consuming
mainly alcohol.
Fitzpatrick tries to make Juf
frev leave the premises, but Jef
frey dot's not c ooperate and is
therefore arrested for criminal
trespassing With help from a
nearby officer, lie is handcuffed
and put into the car.
With a strong smell of alcohol
in the car. we drive Jeffrey to the
lame County Jail He is slurring
Ins words, trying to invite me
out fora date (Luckily. I already
have plans for Sunday evening.)
At the jail, the gates are
opened and Jeffrey is brought
into the arms of the security per
sonnel, who will take care of
him until the next day. Care
means giving him o shower,
breakfast and clean clothes. For
most of the transients, this is
their opportunity to get a med
ical checkup, a good meal and a
bed to sleep on. The only thing
they will miss is the alcohol hot
lie
After the arrest, Fitzpatrick
has to write out a report of what
happened, which includes gen
eral information about the sus
pect and an observation report
about the incident.
Hack in the University dis
trict, we stop in a parking lot
near East 13th Avenue and
Alder Street, and Fitzpatrick
sees two minors who are sitting
in front of a car with open con
tainers. After trying to break off
the evening, they are troth given
citations, and from my seat in
the car I can see the despair in
their eyes when they are told the
court date and bail.
The night is getting older, but
it's still fairly quiet. On the radio
we are informed about a cus
tomer at the Best Western Motel
who is having diabetic prob
lems, but when we arrive, the
paramedics are already in the
process of helping. After a few
minutes, the situation is under
control, and we are on our way
to a noise disturbance from a
party. However, the party has
quieted down by the time we
arrive, so my hope of visiting the
parly is gone.
Fitzpatrick tolls mo that the
boundaries that he usually goes
by on his route are High Street
to Walnut Street and 24th
Avenue to Broodway Street.
Passing by Rennie's. Guido's.
Taylor's. Safeway and High
Street Cafe, it seems like most
people are staying inside this
evening, maybe because of the
loss in the football game.
Driving through the whole
rout*-, we meet Robert, tlie tran
sient we had talked to earlier at
West University Park, on Hast
13th Avenue Walking down the
street with a glass of Is'or. Robert
has already Ix'en given a nurtilw
of warrants and been arrested 20
to 30 times, says Fitzpatrick
Tonight Robert is about to be
arrested once more for having an
open container, an arrest he is
strongly against
As Robert shouts that he is not
breaking the law, Fitzpatrick
gets help from a nearby officer
and they put him in the police
oar. We an; on the way to the jail
again as Roliert calls Fitzpatrick
everything in the book.’and I
start to wonder how much
patience tiles*; officers hove.
Being called an '‘idiot" and a
"bloody fool" without respond
ing would have l>een impossible
for me. hut for F'itzpatrick it is
just another part of his work.
During tin; rest of the evening
1 have the opportunity to visit a
number of parties, where $350
citations an; given for noise dis
turbances Most of the people
having the parties try to avoid
being cited by giving explana
tions that could have won them
an Oscar, but for the police, the
complaining neighbors are the
ones who should bo the win
ners.
So, did I have the chance to
ride with loud sirens and blue
and red flashing lights during
the evening? Yes. At 1:30 o.m.
we were on the way for a cup of
coffee, hut wo had to change
plans after the radio informed us
of a fight on East 13th Avenue
and Alder Street outside of the
7-Eleven Suddenly, 1 realize
how the surrounding traffic
responds to our fast s(>eed, and 1
wish I could put the same lights
on my car.
In less than a minute we
arrive on the premises, but the
fight is over, and the suspects
have already gone. Looking
around for the fighters brings us
nothing, so we take a break at
Franklin Boulevard, where we
consume cookies and coffee.
The shift is almost over for
Fitzpatrick, hut before that time
we get a call about counterfeit
money that had been found at
Lawrence Hall, a complaint
about noise and criminal tres
passing. and notice of posses
sion of open containers. Visiting
the different sites brings the
evening to an end. but whun
Fitzpatrick brings mo home, a
fire alarm is ringing in the
neighborhood.
For him the evening wns not
yet over, as he explains, "this
job brings u lot of overtime."
Going to bed, I could still hear
the fire alarm ringing, and look
ing out from my window I see
the firefighters and police offi
cers on the premises talking to
some people. With a new insight
about the Eugene police officers
and how they work. 1 fall asleep
safe and sound, knowing that
the officers are out there to help,
and not the opposite.
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