Last Saturday night/Sunday morning I rode with the police as part of the department’s Citizen Observer Ride-Along Program. The program allows citizens to better understand the hazards of the job and observe our local law enforcement at work. The observer can request to ride with a particular officer at any time providing it is convenient for the department and they grant permission.

I accompanied Officer Trey Inman during his 12-hour shift from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

After arriving at the department and meeting Inman and Ludvik, we head out for what will be an interesting evening.

-9:40 p.m. The dispatcher says there is a report of two people stealing from the Hannah Home donation boxes on the side of the Alabama Thrift Store. Approaching the store, we see a white male and female with a truck full of furniture, bags of clothes and other items. As we get closer, the couple start unloading the truck. Inman gets on the loudspeaker before getting out. “Put the bags down and stand at the rear of the truck.” The male’s hands are fidgeting and one is resting slightly behind the closed tailgate. “Look at his hand. You always gotta watch their hands,” Inman says before telling him to remove his hand from the back of the truck.

The couple claims to have had a yard sale earlier and said they were bringing the left over stuff to the store to unload. At this point, several other police have arrived, including Ludvik. “We’re just trying to do a good thing. I go to church,” the lady said. The truck bed is packed and a large piece of furniture rests on its’ side near the cab. The dresser is not strapped in and looks like it could fall out at any time. “There is no way they drove from the Mineral Springs area with this stuff riding like it is,” Luvik says. The couple argue that they drove with the truck loaded just like it was and that they were not stealing.

Inman asks the lady what is in some of the bags, since they claim it came from their home. She has no idea. “You have to look for audible and visual clues,” Inman said later.

The lady, now near tears, is placed in the car away from the man in order to question them both separately. “I’m so nervous right now that anything I say would make me look guilty,” she says. There are witnesses that saw the couple loading their truck and the manager of the thrift store tells officers that he will press charges. The couple is released for now, but the head manager will be at the police department Monday to do the necessary paper work and sign the warrant.

“I have no doubt they’re having a yard sale at home, but they steal stuff here and take it to their house to sell,” Ludvik says. “They can’t lie fast enough, that’s why we keep jetting those questions. She kept saying ‘go talk to my friends, they’ll tell you I have a great reputation,’ but that’s irrelevant.”

The last thing I hear the still-in-denial lady say is, “Next time I’m calling Hannah Home to come pick up the stuff.”

-10:17 p.m. Officer Inman and I drive through to Wal-Mart looking for a man who reportedly is bumming around and trying to get into cars with people. Inman notices a suspicious vehicle riding through the Wal Mart parking lot and continuing on around. We follow the vehicle to the St. Vincent St. Clair emergency room parking lot.

Before even turning in, Inman tells me, “I bet you five dollars that he turns into the hospital to try and lose us.” Thirty seconds later, the driver does just that. “You owe me five dollars,” Inman says.

We park facing the vehicle’s driver-side door. You can see the white male fumbling around and lighting a cigarette inside. The driver gets out and Inman approached him. “My tooth’s been hurting, so I came up here to get it looked at,” the driver says before opening his mouth for Inman. The man has red eyes and is dripping sweat. He unscrews his Pepsi bottle and takes small drinks every few seconds. Inman asks him if he is on any drugs or alcohol. “Nope, no drugs, no alcohol, nothing,” he says.

It turns out that he is on probation and has a history of being around meth, but says it has been three years since he had done any.

“You mind if I take a look in your vehicle?” Inman asks. The man isn’t exactly thrilled about that idea. “It’s my father’s, so you’ll have to ask him,” he says. Inman informs him that he will have to call a K-9 unit in to check it out.

Meanwhile the guy is getting upset. “This is crazy. Why are ya’ll harassing me?” he asks. “What’s crazy? I’m just asking you a few questions and you won’t let me check your van,” Inman responds.

-10:47 p.m. Pell City Narcotics Officer Richard Woods pulls in along with his drug dog. “See how his demeanor changes? His hands get nervous and he’s looking up in the air,” Inman said. Woods and the dog approach the vehicle. The dog does not bark or paw the vehicle. He passively signals by sitting down when he smells drugs. As Woods leads him, the dog sits several times on each side of the vehicle. There is something in there.

Inman is now legally able to enter the vehicle and he emerges seconds later holding a small metal container with meth and OxyContin, a prescription painkiller, inside.

When we initially rode after the vehicle, I had some doubts about what we would find. Sure it wasn’t the nicest ride in the world, but that doesn’t mean the person is doing anything wrong. How did Inman know that something was amiss? “You develop a keen sense for it. It just beckons to you,” he explained.

The man is searched before being placed in the police car. “Do you have any weapons or anything I need to know about,” Inman says. The man says no and Inman immediately pulls out a good-sized pocketknife from his jeans. Inman tosses it behind him and said, “What’s this? I thought you didn’t have anything?” “Oh, that’s just an old rusty knife,” the man says. Later, Inman says this is commonplace. “Everybody denies everything. They’ll say they don’t have a weapon and then have a shotgun in their pocket.”

-11:40 p.m. We head to the BP station and get something to drink. It is a muggy night in Pell City and it has only begun. Hydrogen gas, a bar, brake problems and a 911 call await.