Handcuffs and Speeding Tickets

When I walked into the local police station I didn’t have handcuffs around my wrists. But I was the only one. The middle aged man with the black cap and thick, salt and pepper whiskers wasn’t as fortunate as I was.

“Stop on the blue line.”

“Are you going to be civil?”

“Hands on the wall,” were the stern fragments I heard as the police officers worked the man through the breathalyzer test. As he sat in the holding cell, I was able to get a look around the station.

It could have been any business office, then I noticed the large posters covered in photos of gang tattoos. Hmmm… Not typical. Maps of the area and state draped across another wall. Unfinished sandwiches, napkins, and paper littered every flat surface.

I was encouraged to see a blue recycle can.

In the two hours that followed, I was on patrol with Officer Boivie. I wanted to see the city from a new perspective. Here is what I learned:

#1 Throwing snowballs inside city limits is illegal

#2 Spinning cookies in icy parking lots is also illegal

#3 There is a “No Smoking” sign inside patrol cars

#4 There is no quota for speeding tickets—it’s a myth

#5 Marijuana and meth are the most common drugs in the area

#6 The maximum adult alcohol limit is .008

#7 Police can tell if your registration is expired by the sticker color

#8 Policemen carry a microphone in their pocket to record absolutely everything said

#9 My city employs five detectives

#10 There is one new child abuse case every week in my community

I walked out of the station and blinked a new pair of eyes; I couldn’t tell if the world was darker now or just better defined. A small, white sign hung by a single strip of tape on the back window. “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”- Dr. Seuss.

Hmmm… Typical?