Ashley Terry

Field Period Journals

Summer 2013

May 28, 2013

Today, I was given a tour of the facilities by Lieutenant Buckley. I saw the armoury, evidence,

locker rooms, offices, and so forth. After, I was sent to observe the communications department where they take complaints. Here I saw how they handled the complaints from the community

by phone and in person. There was always an officer on standby in case any of the people who came to the window were being disrespectful to communications workers.

May 29, 2013

Today, I was in the jail observing intake and control. Intake is where the booking is done as well as where the criminals go to await transport or doctors appointments or anything else that

involves them leaving the building. There is a lot of paperwork involved in this area and a lot of questions the intake officer needs to ask. They also have to do a pat down of each inmate before they leave and after they get back. I also got to file some paperwork. Control is where an officer

sits and watches what goes on in the jail. He allows people to go in and out of doors and lets other officers know when something is up. May 30, 2013

Today, I was observing communications from 9am to 1pm. During that time there were few calls, but one person did walk in a claim there were pot growers near his house. However, he

could not make a statement because he was a third party and in reality, he did not know much. Then from 1pm until 5pm I was with an officer on patrol. We went all the across the county but, only received one call about debri in the road, which ended up not being anything dangerous.

The officer told me that he can receive calls from communications and 911 that can range from bats in a house to a murder. May 31, 2013

Today, from 9am to 11:30am I was in communications where I was shown how the system they use works. They use this system to locate where the complaints are coming from and it sets a

timer to make sure to check on the officers every ten minutes. Then, from 11:30am until 5pm I did a ride along. Our first stop was at a Wal-mart to do a follow up on a case the officer was working on. We then drove around some more, stopped at an accident to see if everyone was ok

and ended up stopping a person who failed to make a complete stop at a stop sign. After running his plate and name we discovered he was driving on a suspended license and his car needed to be

inspected. This resulted in the man receiving three tickets.

June 3, 2013

From 9am to 10am today I was in communications. Then, from 10am to 5pm I was doing a ride

along with a female officer this time. Before we left the station she showed me how to file a case report and we gave some evidence back to a person. Then, we had to go help a male officer with a search that involved a female because one cannot search the opposite sex. After that we

dealt with some more complaints and returned some paperwork.

June 4, 2013

From 9am-1pm today I was in observing communications. Then, from 1pm to 6pm I did another ride along. Today we tried to give an order of protection to someone who was not home, so my

officer had to give it to the next officer coming on shift. The officer then took me to two of the many sub stations they have in Delaware County. Here they do bi-weekly check-ins to make

sure everything is going ok. On the way home we stopped a man for not having a plate on his trailer, but he had it in his car so the officer let him go.

June 5, 2013

Today I did a ride along all day from 12pm to 8pm with another new officer. On our way to a location for traffic stops the officer sees a man that has a warrant out for his arrest with the state police. We end up arresting the man and taking him to the state police. After that we had to go

advise a property retrieval, but no one was home. Then we went to our intended location in the first place and waited for speeders. My officer stopped about four people and issued one ticket.

Then there was a call for a woman that flipped her lawn tractor down into a stream. We went to assist and then finished up our day advising a county meeting at the office.

June 10, 2013

From 9am to 10am today I was in the communications office. It was a busy day today, I was supposed to do a ride along all day, but I was made to stay back because there was a domestic

dispute and my supervisor felt I would be safest at the office. From 10am to 11am I reviewed accident reports with the Lieutenant. After that I did a ride along from 11am until 5pm where we visited substations, delivered and Order of Protection and checked up on a burglary complaint.

An Order of Protection, or OP as they call it for short, is basically a piece of paper from family court that says one person cannot be near another person or their stuff.

June 11, 2013

9am to 3pm today I did a ride along. The officer showed me how to do some paperwork before we left to go give a demonstration to preschoolers about bicycle safety. Then the rest of the day

we did some follow ups and interviewed the neighbors of where the burglary happened to see if they saw anything. I had to leave early today so from 3pm until 4pm I was in communications while the officer I was with went to follow up on other complaints.

June 12, 2013

All day today I did a ride along, 12pm until 8pm. It was an exciting day, we were in the office doing paperwork when the officer received a walk-in complaint about a man that beat up his

girlfriend the night before. We took her statement and I took pictures of her injuries. We then went to arrest the man on three charges. When we brought him back to the office he was

fingerprinted and asked a series of questions. After that we took him to court where he the received and ROR, which means he was released without bail. After that we served an arrest summons to another woman and then did more paperwork.

June 13, 2013

Today, from 9am to 10am I was in Communications. It was very busy from all the flood

watches. Then, from 10am to 5pm I was doing a ride along. While on the ride along we delivered and OP to the woman that was delivered an arrest summons the day before. After that we were on road patrol for most of the day, but could not find anyone worthy enough to pull

over. During patrol the officer received a radio call telling him to oversee and property retrieval. Finally, at the end of the day, there was a complaint that they woman who was delivered the OP

earlier went home and trashed the house she was to stay away from, in reality she only cut up a few pictures.

June 14, 2013

All day today I was in Intake. During my time there I filed some papers and make booking folders. The booking folders are made prior to anyone coming in to be booked because when

they do come in it can get very hectic. I was shown what supplies inmates get when they are booked in, which was very basic necessities for hygiene. Then a woman was actually booked in

and taken to court. The judge ROR’d her and she was given her stuff and sent home. I also witnessed an inmate getting married, which was very informal and simple. Then there was a big drug bust and just as I was about to leave three men were brought to intake to be booked in.

June 17, 2013

From 9am until 2pm today I was in Communications. The officer I was riding with had a very

busy morning. From 2pm until 5pm I was on a ride along. During this time we went to see a complaint about a skinny cow tied up to a junkyard, the cow was perfectly healthy and was grazing. Then my officer stopped at a couple places for follow ups and interviews. She took a

statement from one man for a follow up and on the way home she checked in at the substation that was near the follow ups. June 25, 2013

Nine in the morning until 12:30 in the afternoon I was observing communications where nothing new was happening. From 12:30pm to 5pm I was doing a ride along. Our first complaint was a

deer/car accident. The driver left the scene and reported it, technically once you leave the scene you have to report the accident to the DMV, not the county, but we went anyway. We found the car, took pictures of it and then went to the accident, found debri, but no deer so we just took

pictures of the debri. The officer I was with then called about a follow up complaint involving a stolen snowmobile, we then went to the house where the snowmobile was stolen from. June 26, 2013

From noon until 10pm I went on a ride along. First, the officer showed me the paperwork he has to do and caught up on some of it. Then, we delivered information about a stolen credit card.

After that, we received news about a warrant for a someone’s DNA. I found out that in Delaware County if an Order of Protection is given they are priority over everything else. We then served an order of protection to a person already in jail. After that we did some traffic

control before delivering an OP to a man who just got out of jail. To finish off the day we went to the local state police barracks and checked in with them. June 27, 2013

I started in communications at 9am today until 10:30am. Then, from 10:30am to 5pm I did a ride along. Today, we took complaints, did road patrol and visited one of the satellite sub-

stations. We then went on a trespassing complaint. After the complaint was finished we reviewed the videos and the officer explained why he was talking to the complainants the way he did. Sometimes you have to be assertive while others you must be kind, but always respectful.

After we did a traffic stop and during that traffic stop we received a priority 911 call to finish off the day.

June 28, 2013

Today I was in communications from 6:30am to 7:15am. I heard the shift changes where people

called in and out of service; the officers have to give the milage on their cars. Then from 7:15am to 5pm I went back and forth between Intake and the control room in the jail. During my time

there a man came into intake to get a letter notarized. Then I sent out letters to bailed out inmates that had leftover commissary money. After that I filed papers and updated commissary papers. Also, a health inspector came to view the kitchen, I watched how it was done. To finish

the day I observed an inmate being bailed out.