It's been about a year since I've written a blog on this site. I need to give you an update of what's changed. I'm no longer a full-time law enforcement officer. I am now a reserve deputy. The difference between the two is that I volunteer my time (no pay) and I ride with a full-time officer. I ride shotgun, but I still handle calls, wear the same uniform, equipment, and badge. I also have the same authority, with some limitation. Rather than having full arrest powers 24/7, my arrest powers are limited to whenever I am on duty as a reserve. When I am off-duty, I am no longer considered a peace officer. So in short, reserves are cops when they're working, but have no law enforcement powers when they're off duty. I still consider it a second (and unpaid) job.
A couple weeks ago, I did some reserve time on a night shift in east Bakersfield. I was riding with a deputy we'll call "D." On this chilly night, I was taking a missing juvenile report at the missing kid's mom's house. After finishing the missing juvenile call, we got in our patrol car. Through our scanner radio in our car, we heard BPD (the neighboring police department) get dispatched to a call on Alta Vista Drive. Alta Vista is the next perpendicular street ahead of us. Our partner, "Skid," drove up next to us and asked, "What's going on at Alta Vista?" Right after he said that, we saw a BPD cruiser zoom down Alta Vista. We drove off, made a left on Alta Vista and parked at the curb to see what BPD was up to, from a distance.
We heard the BPD dispatcher giving more details on the call, that there were several people fighting. The dispatcher then said they were now dispersing. The call was about 3 blocks down. We drove a little closer, but still kept our distance. After all, this was BPD's call. We were just there in case shit hits the fan. The BPD dispatcher gave an update on the call. One of the people in the fight was armed with a gun.
*To be continued*
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