Sparta Police Internship Week 2 (5/14-5/18)

Week 2 began with a ride along with the patrol officers, this being my first time in a squad car I was really excited to see what it was like to go on patrol. First we had to take a ride to the Morris County Corrections Facility to finger print and photo a 24 year old who had been arrested on charges of auto theft and possession of heroin. Unfortunately I had to wait in the lobby being the intern but I had the situation explained to me on the way back to Sparta. Once we returned to Sparta we took radar on highway 15 and patrolled some of the neighborhoods in the town for the rest of the day. I got to see how officers ran license plates and even got to run some myself, I also got to see how police officers use there discretion when it come to writing tickets, when it comes to township residents, officers normally won't write offenders tickets unless the offender was speeding well above the posted speed limit. I also got to see how much paper work police officers have to do, their job isn't simply done after they write a ticket or respond to a call, officers have to write numerous reports so that every offense is documented and checked out by the sergeants. For week three, I will be working with the Investigative Division of the department which I'm looking forward to because becoming a detective is what I want to pursue as a career.