This was indeed, a FULL MOON SPECIAL ride last night - my second midnight ride along in 3 days (I didn't really plan this, but it worked out this way, and I thought twice in such a short period of time would be truly interesting), and it was exciting again.
Tonight's theme was drunks on the loose - Jacksonville Beach has several times the entertainment district of our neighbor's to the north, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach, and our neighbor to the south, Ponte Vedra Beach. Jacksonville Beach also hosts more festivals (probably one per month these days), than the other communities, and we have more public beach access than the afore-mentioned towns, so we naturally attract more people, meaning we have to manage more people.
Our first call of the night was a field sobriety test in a McDonald's parking lot, and was the first time I had seen this happen up close. He was probably about 5' 11" and about 140 pounds, and he admitted to 8 or so beers and at least one shot of Jager in a defined period of time. He proceeded to fail the two tests administered, and was arrested and transported downtown.
Another call had us as backup for a second McDonald's (and I never got to eat!) to investigate drinking and driving; another officer had seen this vehicle, with 6 young adults in it, become some what verbal at the drive through (the other officer was in line for dinner), and the driver had been spotted with a beer can in her hand so they werer pulled over; turns out they were all 16 or 17, none were wearing seatbelts, and several of them had been drinking.
Rather than arrest them, the officer decided to write as many tickets as she could for the driver, and release the others to their parents custody. The amazing thing to me, and the officers, is how cavalier these kids were about their situation. There were some tears from one at the onset, and then not long after, they were laughing like nothing had happened, and it was all a big joke.
I was, again, truly amazed at exactly how many interactions one officer can have in an average night, and when you consider the amount of life threatening calls, it makes one wonder how to assign resources to best fit the needs of your community - I cannot tell you how eye-opening these two nights have been.
Now, I'm on four hours sleep after being up 22, so it's time for a nap!
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