You Have The Right To Remain SILENT

So hi friends. Today was not your average 2-show day for this blogger...and even though I'm tired, you're going to get a bit of the story and some pictures now. As I have previously discussed, I have a friend (who was a roommate of mine when I first moved to the DC area) who lives in the Greenville-Spartanburg area named Nick. About 2 years ago, Nick became a Sheriff's Deputy for Spartanburg County...which basically means he is a COP! Cool, right? And for those of you who KNOW Nick, it doesn't surprise you that this is what he is doing.

Here we are...post-beat. Just happy to be bringing peace and justice to the people.

So tonight, our last night in Greenville, I got to go on a RIDE ALONG with Nick during half of his shift. And what a TRIP it was! For the most part, to me, here is what I took away from it all: Being a cop, for Nick, is like LIVING a big game. You drive around real fast, you get people on the radio telling you where your next 'game' is, and you drive THERE really fast. You get to talk to funny people, probably shoot a gun every so often, and even help people out, sometimes, too.

Here is our RIDE. Nick is in the back, pumping gas.

I wish I had something more exciting to report about our night. Nick responded to a few calls that initially seemed exciting: neighbor reports gun shots in the woods, man's neighbor is screaming for the cops, man with outstanding warrants for his arrest has been located...but they all turned up to be a bust. I did have a chance to see Nick in action though - as he translated (in Spanish) for one officer who pulled a guy over who had no drivers license, no vehicle registration and spoke no English....except enough to say, 'I work for BMW' over and over and over again.

Here is Nick in action with the 'Translation Stop'.

I don't know if you can see it, but it's ME! With the 'Translation Stop' going on in the background!

Our last stop of my portion of the night was the most entertaining. One of Nick's other cop buddies called him over their system and told him to meet him at a call that had 2 suspicious men smoking 'something' on the callers back patio. By the time we got there, the smokers had moved from the back porch to the local gas station. The only REAL way that I can describe these 2 guys is to refer you to the 80's TV show 'NEWHART'. It was like someone took Larry, Daryl and Daryl and rolled the 3 of them into these 2 guys. They were dirty....they were drunk or high or both....and they were driving a kickin' Moped. (Well, actually, they were sitting on it talking to the other cop when we arrived....but you know what I mean....) And the MOST entertaining part of the stop was when the cops let the guys go (since they swore they were just heading home) but told them that since they were intoxicated, they had to push the Moped instead of drive it. CLASSIC.

Here is the stop with Dumb and Dumber. I just WISH I got a shot of them pushing it off into the night.

It was a good night on the beat...even though there was none of the drama I was hoping for.
And come to think of it, there was NONE of the free donuts I thought cops got, too. I'm pretty sure I got jipped...but I just can't be sure.

There's a NEW Sheriff in town...put your hands UP for Sheriff Anderson!

Tomorrow we're heading further South. Next stop: Beaufort.

10-4.