Graveyard Cops

PUBLISH-city

What Other Government Agency Will Even Answer Their Phone, Much Less Send Someone To Your Door At Midnight?

If you’re new to police work, you’ve probably been working your unfair share of graveyard shifts. It’s part-and-parcel of your new career, and you have to pay your dues — even in this world of iPads and computer-controlled beat cars. And if you’ve been around a while, you’ll likely remember the sometimes-sublime pleasures of a good graveyard shift. There’s nothing like rocketing down the road to a call without having to worry about traffic — or too many supervisors lurking about. (Note: A 1985 Ford LTD Crown Vic with 97,000 miles on it can go 128 mph if there’s just a tiny bit of down hill available. I only heard that, never did it myself, of course.) It’s also fun because many (most?) of the people out are likely up to no good, are drunk, lost, nuts or otherwise in need of some cop-like attention. If you’re a new cop, graveyard is where you learn how to be a street cop.

I’ll also bet you know a couple of beat partners who are always on graveyard — but they actually seem to like it. They arrive at lineup rested, a fresh uniform on, shoes shined, faces beaming, energy oozing out all over, and you’re likely to think they’re just a bit insane. You, on the other hand, are likely grumpy, tired and look like you slept in your uniform, which you might have, now that I think on it. But those “other” cops are not insane (mostly); they likely simply enjoy doing police work with a minimum of extraneous fuss from the general public — and the odd lieutenant — tossed into the mix.

I remember how enjoyable it was to run my beat car through the wash, clean the windows (always had my own Windex) then pull out from the station at 2200 onto near-empty streets. There’d often be calls holding as the second shift ended, so after clearing the boards for our friendly dispatch ladies, we’d join forces and foist our graveyard-shift focus onto whoever most deserved it that night. Problems got cleaned up handily, burglars were caught, bad guys found (much to the delight of detectives who had been hunting them earlier in the day), and a cross section of lost citizens, late night business owners and regular people got to see a more relaxed side of their cops. We always tried to take time to chat if we could, and formed strong bonds with communities as we answered their calls at all hours. Like one guy told me once we cleared his backyard after he’d heard some “noises”: “You guys rock. What other government agency will even answer their phone, much less send someone to your door at midnight?” And he was right.
By Roy Huntington