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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
Under the right circumstances, a ride in a Eugene Police Department car isn’t all that bad. Tom Patterson Emerald Cornering Eugene’s bad guys ■ A night spent cavorting with some of the Eugene Police Department’s best reveals what it’s like to take the law into your own hands; as an officer of the law, that is By Rebecca Newell Oregon Daily Emerald Gripping the passenger side door, I was in a car hurtling down Sixth Avenue in the wee morning hours at more than 100 miles per hour. I wasn’t a victim of a drag racing driver nor on my way to any hospital. No, I was in the passenger seat of a police car, surrounded by as many gadgets as an airplane cockpit, with Offi cer Mark Hubbard in hot pursuit of some runaway bikers — the BMX type, not motorcyclists. As my first ride in a police car — and fortunately in the passenger side rather than the back — there was a lot to see, despite what Hub bard described as a “slow Wednes day night.” Which meant no bloodshed, drug users or dead bod ies. All of which aren’t unusual sights for a Eugene Police Depart ment officer. Hubbard, who has been in the force for two years, said an officer never knows what he could be up against on a call. It could be a frightened woman calling because her dog treed a raccoon, and won’t stop barking. But just as likely, it could be a man strung out on meth and booze who assaulted his wife in front of his kids and refused to • """* • Reporter’s notebook see the blue uniform as a stop sign. Hubbard stressed that police must be objective when arriving on the scene. In his words, “practice the Golden Rule.” But break the rules or try to assault an officer, and that objective view becomes a defensive one, where decisions are instinctive and officers must react reflexively, using their training to keep themselves, as well as other citizens, safe from lawbreakers. “You don’t really think of it ‘til afterwards,” Hubbard said. “But then you think back and think ‘Wow, that was pretty hairy’.” Hubbard recounted the story of that boozed-up husband on meth, who after beating up his wife, went after the officers arriving on the scene. It took two officers to hold down the man and a third to cuff him, a result of his hyper-charged drug state. Of course, patrol duty has more than its fair share of noise viola tions, interviews and — yawn — routine traffic stops. Our first task of the night was interviewing an assault victim. A young man in the downtown mall had been beaten unconscious after slapping a teenage girl on the rear. The events weren’t exactly clear, as the witnesses gave con flicting accounts and the victim had his memory literally almost knocked out of him, along with four teeth and a broken nose and cheek. And the young girl and five assailants didn’t stick around to be interrogated, something not un common in the mall, where many young adults are transients. After re-interviewing the victim at Sacred Heart Hospital, we took a call for a noise violation. I followed Hubbard, toting my big plastic “po lice observer” label which hung around my neck like a kindergart ner’s name tag. The apartment was quiet when we arrived, and when Hubbard questioned as to the prior noise, the answer of "we’re watch ing Letterman, so we wouldn’t turn the music up” seemed acceptable. The rule of thumb displayed by Hubbard and other EPD officers I had a chance to observe during the late night and early morning was definitely an objective one. If peo ple cooperated and were straight forward, they consistently got off with a warning. Jaywalking and loud music were stereotypes, but was not limited to drivers who had committed traffic violations. Surprisingly, Hubbard did not pull drivers over for speeding; his squad car is not equipped with a radar. Only sheriff’s vehicles and a select number of squad cars have radars, though Hubbard noted ex cessive speed as a surefire way to be noticed by an officer and to be pulled over. In most cases during the ride along, speeding cars caught Hub bard’s attention, but were pulled over for an additional violation, such as changing lanes within 100 feet of an intersection or driving with fog lights only. During a lull in activity, in which some cops often park and talk in order to keep themselves alert during the late night shifts, we took a tour of the downtown police station. We traversed through the dispatch center and the interroga tion rooms, which come in two styles: Comfy with couches or chilling with stark bolted down furniture and two temporary hold ing cells, which were just as small and dingy as their TV alternatives displayed. In the evidence room, a huge Turn to Ride-along, page 16C RAD’S BODY & FENDER 8th & Grant 343-9283 You need Brad’s bad — For complete auto body work and paint jobs. Cars and light trucks are our specialty. At Brad’s, we give you free estimates _ . and written guarantee of satisfaction. Duck Boosters Since 1946! We take insurance estimates gladly. Over 50 Years In Business! Located 4 blocks from campus! 11th & Mill Framed Fine Art Posters •Special Group 40%-60% off! •Don't miss our $5 bin Starts Sept 15 DUCK NAKED? Blank walls? We can help! We have the area's largest selection of fine art posters. We also carry original art by Northwest artists. Visit our showroom & view our ex tensive selection of custom frames. 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