Yesterday evening, March 23, 2023, I traveled to Upper Marlboro to the 8th Prince George's County Police District to do a ride-along. I've ridden along with many agencies in the past but this was without any doubt the largest agency I've used for a ride-along. The shift, 3:30 p.m. to 130 a.m., was very busy in a district encompassing Westphalia, Suitland, District Heights, Capital Heights, and Forestville, all part of a larger county with a population of about 967000 with 483 land square miles.
I rode with Officer Bonnacorsky in his Ford Taurus. We first went to put gas in his vehicle at one of the county-owned properties that are exclusive to county vehicles only for gas service. It was a nice day in the Washington region with temperatures around 74 degrees. We then went to wash the car but I have to say, I have no clue where exactly we were. The car wash was busy with citizens also taking advantage of the nice weather. Surprisingly after that, we didn't get any calls and sat in an empty parking lot across from Buffalo Wild Wings for almost an hour. The officer was joined by one of his co-workers from the same beat, Office Deramus. They later explained to me that they were savoring the downtime at the beginning of the shift because they knew too well that the storm was coming.
We went to our first call of the shift shortly after, to settle a vehicle tow dispute. Right after we cleared that call, it just got busy almost non-stop until the end of the shift. We took a check well-being call that we cleared quickly. Then Officer Bonnacorsky was on his way to another "routine" when he diverted himself to the unavoidable: the type of call I often read about in the news every other day about DC and PG County Police, a shooting. Code authorized! Lights and sirens, please. An individual had just been shot and the suspect fled in a black Lexus. Upon arrival at the scene, I observed a light skin male being cared for by EMS personnel. He was shot in the elbow area. He told responding officers a car approached him and, for reasons unclear to me, there was a semi-tense exchange and the individual in the car called him "lemonade." The victim was upset about the name-calling and the suspect shot him and fled.
In Prince George's County style, we didn't stay too long at the scene. A detective showed up and there were other officers at the scene too. We cleared this call and got dispatched to a breaking and entering. Lights and sirens on this one too. We found nothing. Clear.
We later dealt with a homeless man who knew how to play the game. "I want to kill myself," he told Officer Bonnacorsky. But he didn't EP him (emergency petition for mental evaluation). Instead, he called an ambulance to transport him voluntarily. Later into the evening, we stopped by a Hibachi restaurant with other officers: Morris and Beck, both corporals with the department. We all ordered our food. As we were about to start to eat... shots were fired according to an Auto Theft officer who was trying to stop one individual. This sounded serious at the time. I didn't even take a bite of my food, a hibachi with a mix of steak and chicken. Once again, with code, we respond to the area. Details emerge that it was the officer who discharged his weapon accidentally, but a gun was found in the juvenile suspect's vehicle who ended up being arrested. I have no idea what prompted the interaction or if it was even related to auto theft.
The Prince George's County Police Department -- not to be confused with the smaller, less funded Sheriff's Office in the same county, is the fourth largest law enforcement organization in the state, after Baltimore City Police, Baltimore County Police and Maryland State Police. I was glad to have participated in the ride-along as it opened my eyes to "real" police work, not to say we don't do anything out in the country. I ended the shift around midnight and headed back home.
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