Shortly after ten thirty in the morning of December 7, 1998 I entered the police car. Dawn Burr was already there. Hence, I was required to sit in the back seat. From this perspective I was able to make several observations with varying accuracy. The first thing I noticed was the obvious disregard for the comfort of back seat passengers. A substantial metal barrier was set between me and the seat in front of me. Set above the metal were two large sheets of plexiglass that extended to the ceiling. To my best estimation each sheet was about one centimeter thick. At the time I assumed that the glass was bullet proof, but after I remembered that it is procedure to do a weapons check before putting a convict in a car. Perhaps the many scratches and dents on the glass and metal represent the character of the people that have been in the back seat. Resting on the dash board, there was a device that appeared to be a video camera. After looking at it more closely, I realized that it couldn't be. Officer Page explained that it was the drive-by radar, as opposed to the radar gun that squad cars are also fitted with. On the back of the drive-by radar was printed "CITIZEN", which I thought was ironic. Next to the driver's seat was an old microphone. From an unseen radio, there came a constant and periodic chatter of voices. The seats were blue, and there was blue trim throughout the vehicle. I was able to notice this due to the delay and absence of Shawn Carpenter. To this end, the officer called the school office to inquire about the whereabouts of Shawn. When he did not arrive, we decided to leave.

Mark Page seemed to be a stern officer at first. My comments were deflected as light on a mirror. His appearance, however, seemed to contradict this conclusion. He is mid-height, perhaps between forty and fifty years of age. On face is covered by a full beard and moustache with side-burns that were trimmed close to the skin. He has glasses that appeared rather out-of-style and suggested an relaxed personality. This initial conjecture proved to be true-- after we got started he seemed less uptight. His actions revealed several errors as a driver. First of all, I noticed that he put his seat belt on after the car was moving. He did this on two occasions, suggesting that he was not perhaps the perfectionist that he seemed at first. Secondly, he never correctly stopped before the stop line at intersections. In a drivers' test, he would have failed for the two previous reasons. While driving, I got the impression that he scanned his surroundings a great deal over what a normal driver might do. After a short drive, we arrived at the Police Department. When Officer Page exited the car, I noticed that he was slightly overweight. While I was waiting for him to open my door (it was locked on the inside so convicts can't escape), I noticed that the controls inside the car are much larger than a typical automobile.

The Department was, by all indications, a fairly modern building. It was obviously built with security as a primary concern. To get in the garage, one needs to know a password and radio to the dispatch center that his condition is okay. Again, to enter the building itself one has to know another password. As we entered the station, we walked through what seemed a labyrinth of halls. There were many pictures on the walls which seemed a poor attempt at making the environment less sterile, but to me it failed. We entered the meeting room where there is a picture of every officer at the Department. Since I have no personal experience with any of the people, it didn't mean very much to me. There was also a department patch collection that was fairly interesting to look at. As the cost of criminal justice increases annually, I was rather amused when Officer Page offered us football cards. After passing through a doorway and down a flight of stairs, we arrived in the dispatch center. It is a large room filled with many computers. A silent female sat at a desk nearest to us. At another desk, there sat a jovial man (Bob). Bob told us about the dispatch center. There was a prevalent aroma of fresh coffee coming from an unseen source. A fake looking Christmas tree was placed in the entrance to the room. Although the center appeared to be very technologically advanced, he insisted that "the computers don't work 99% of the time." The computers had not been working the morning we arrived, but he told us that "today [was] not a good day." He ran a criminal record check on both Dawn Burr and I. We both had perfect criminal records. That is the origin of, and the reason for, Officer Page's description of us as "good kids." Bob explained that he can access almost anything from his computer. Apparently, the records of all cities, counties and states are available as well as FBI, CIA and international records from most NATO countries. There are such a multitude of computer displays, that I was developing a headache just looking at them. Obviously the dispatch officers are tougher than I might have thought. I noticed that there was little professionalism among the dispatch staff. From there, they can dispatch all fire and police. They set the siren test every Wednesday and act as an after hours answering service for the Marshfield water works. After our short tour of the dispatch center, we went back up the stairs to see the records room. There reports are transcribed and other paper work is filled out. One of the employees said the work was "the work of twenty eight people, sometimes." Officer Page contended that the records people "are the only people in the building that work." Another officer, Lori, agreed. After having witnessed the principle functions of the police station, it was time to patrol with Mark Page.

He drove for a short period of time before we parked along McMillan Street. There the speed limit is thirty five miles per hour. Page explained a few interesting points that I was not previously aware of. First, in Wisconsin there is an absolute speed limit. That means that in a 35 zone, the speed limit is 35. However, officers have digression whether to pursue a person for speeding or not. He explained this is not because officers are nice people, but because many speedometers fail to be accurate. Second, he revealed the specific nature of traffic policing. Some officers like devote the majority of their time to traffic, others prefer to take calls more often. Page told us that it is primarily the newer officers that write the most tickets, that love traffic policing the most. However after a few years on the force, one sees "too many accidents" and gets sick of seeing people die. This inspires him to do traffic work, even still with reluctance. In most cases, Page gives verbal warnings because he feels that he has "better things to do". Page explained the use of the radar gun. It is procedure to first estimate the speed of the vehicle before using the gun. As a side note, Page noted that "small cars are hard to estimate the speed of. I've never understood why." When he officer uses it, Page will often "lock in" the result to prove to the driver that he or she was in fault. The practice of showing the driver the radar gun is a courtesy, not a necessity. We also witnessed traffic policing in front of M & I Bank and on Galvin Road. On Galvin, he pulled over a van for driving 54 in a 35 zone. Normally he would give the driver a ticket, but because the holidays were approaching he decided a written warning would be more appropriate. He acted outside of city limits, but was able to deal with the driver anyway under the fresh pursuit doctrine. Page explained to us that he should have been more careful in case the other driver had a firearm. I found this to be rather interesting.

In my discourse with Officer Page, I also inquired as to his opinions on certain issues. When asked if he was cynical of the public, he began by saying "There are a hell of a lot of bad people runnin' around out there. I'll never be out of a job." Some officers have pessimistic attitudes toward society. They become cynical, frustrated and calloused. Page offered several reasons for this fact. First, people don't always make an attempt to solve their own problems. Instead they call the police for the most minor concerns. For example, once a person called the police because his neighbor was looking at him in a strange way. Second, after seeing accidents regularly one becomes cold to death and violence. This coldness is often mistaken as indifference by the public when it is actually the result of years of experience. Third, many officers feel that their job is not effective. When they first entered the force, they were dealing with criminals. Now they are dealing with the sons and daughters of those criminals. The failure to bring closure to the hereditary criminal is a major cause for animosity in the force. Fourth, the job of an officer can be completely unpredictable. A police officer is a person who deserves to be able to go to his or her family at night. However, the chances of getting injured or killed are much higher than in other professions. The fact that "tomorrow might be another day, but then again in might not be" typifies this attitude. It appears that these negative attitudes extend to other factions. Page probably stated the obvious when he said, "Most people think we're assholes." In American judicial proceedings, there has been an increasing concern of misuse of the police. Officer Page admitted,"The courts don't help us much either." I also asked Mark of his thoughts on television police shows. He felt that the life of an officer is much less exciting than it might appear on TV. In real, people don't always decide to fight back when there is imminent police action. Take, for example, the following scenario. A person and his family are at home eating dinner when ten police officers burst through the door with their guns drawn. They quickly surround the family, and clearly have the advantage. On television there would invariably be a fight, in reality there wouldn't be. Of course, most such shows take place in large cities (NYPD Blue in New York City, Martial Law in Los Angeles, Walker in Dallas). For this reason, Marshfield does not typify many of the places on television. Also, in Hollywood there is an additional concern that does not appear in reality. Action is necessary for any police film, while real police try to avoid action whenever possible. Officer Page also had a strong opinion of youth. He believes that many "younger people are dangerously materialistic". There are many cases of vandalism and youth "trashing cars". When inquired as to why he believed that to be true, he felt that when a younger person does not own something he or she sees no reason to treat it with any respect. I noticed throughout the two hours, he spoke much of the "sloth-headed cop" of myth. This was likely reactionary to my age and the misconceptions that are involved with being a teenager. I asked Mark about police work in general. He said, any officer must be able to do more than the general public. This is evidenced by when Page said, "As a police officer, I'm supposed to be able to take more than the general public." He also said, that the role of police is "changing more and faster." There is now a more proactive approach to crime solving. An officer, said Page, must also be able to handle a large degree of boredom and frustration. Many new officers complain that "all I do on this job is write." He believes that many "day shifts can be ... boring." An officer also has be able to deal with a great deal of criticism from the media for mostly minor missteps. On these grounds, he characterized the life on an officer.

Overall, the experience revealed many specifics that I might have been otherwise ignorant of. The pursuit of understanding and the dispel of that which is false is indeed a worthwhile undertaking. Therefore, I believe the two hours to have been important in many ways. In those two hours, I did not simply meet an officer and drive around with him for a while. Rather, I saw a life that is not my own, and understood it.