Day in the Life of a Law Enforcement Officer

For awhile now, I’ve wanted to write up a little post on what a day looks like for a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer). Every single day can be drastically different, but I think that the general public would be surprised to hear what a police officer does in a day! I think what we picture in our mind is completely different from what they often actually do.

So, today… Theo is sharing what a typical day can look like in his role. He currently works 10 hour shifts four days a week. Since he works in a fairly busy city, there are a lot of calls! A quieter/smaller town might not have the same level or type of calls. Most of the time, he is on his own in a cruiser, but there are quite a few calls that are “two man calls” that two separate officers need to go on together. Since he is a field training officer, he is sometimes training a rook as he/she gets introduced to “being on the streets” after completing the police academy. Keep in mind that not every day is the same, and not all calls can be handled in the same way. Some days he will go on 8-10 calls, and some days one call can take almost the whole day. The summer season also looks completely different from the winter season. Holidays are usually quiet and the day after holidays is usually hopping.

Day in the Life of a Law Enforcement Officer

Arrive at work by 6:45am, get dressed and start my car to it can warm up. Clock in and head to roll call at 7:00am. Roll call takes 15 or so minutes and a sergeant will take attendance, list off any broadcasts for wanted suspects, missing individuals, pursuable vehicles. They will update on any housekeeping items like trainings, meetings, open enrollment, private citizen riders, etc. We all test our tasers by taking the prongs out, put it in test mode, ignite it and observe sparks for 5 seconds (very loud).

Head out to my cruiser and log into my computer, do a cruiser check- testing lights and sirens, making sure our shotgun and less lethal are both loaded properly, check the back seat and make sure there are no weapons or contraband (or messes) left by the previous crew. Put all of our own gear and duty equipment in.

Once all that is finished, pull up the call board and see what is pending. We take calls based on priority. Most priority calls require two man crews, so we have to find another officer to head to the location with.

Call 1- Business Alarm Going Off – headed to the scene and checked the area to figure out why the alarm was going off- this time it was an employee who accidentally triggered the alarm. All good. Took about 10 minutes

Call 2- Theft Complaint- someone sold their vehicle and left the license plates in the back seat. We tell them to contact the BMV and deal with it through them. Did not do a theft report because nothing was “stolen”- we document plates were lost. Took about 10 minutes.

Call 3- Theft Complaint at apartment complex – resident saw an unknown male walking around stealing packages. She shouted at the guy and he ran off, so she chased him. He opened packages and dropped them when he ran. We collected the items and went to the owners apartment, verified the items belonged to that owner and asked if he wanted a police report, which he declined. Filled out an information report instead of a crime report. Took about 30 minutes.

Traffic Stop- Guy driving erratically. Pulled over in a hospice center parking lot, advised him why he was pulled over, man was driving to hospice center for an imminent family death. Still run his license, advised him to drive more carefully and gave him a warning. 10 minutes.

Call 4- Accident – box truck swiped a parked minivan. Box truck ended up stopping, driver got out and then got back in and drove away. Resident didn’t see it, cameras didn’t catch it, but a neighbor heard it and saw it driving away. Collect all the info and do a crash report for a hit and run. Took 40 minutes – we have to draw diagrams, so that can take longer.

Headed to the hospital for a bathroom and snack break. They have EMS/Police snack rooms and restrooms.

Call 5- Mental Health- Young lady was shoeless and coatless rolling in the snow outside. Talked with a family member who was concerned and explained she was very high. Was not alert or oriented, so we had her get in the cruiser and took her to the hospital. 45 minutes.

Lunchtime- head back to the district and heat up some leftovers to eat there.

Call 6- Mental Health- Husband called in that wife hasn’t slept in a few days and isn’t taking medications. “Self-medicates” with marijuana. Talking to people who aren’t there, acting like a small child instead of an adult. Took her to the hospital.

Call 7- Welfare Check at a townhouse. Neighbor hasn’t seen older gentleman in two weeks but vehicle is there. We knock on the doors, no answer. Try to look through the windows but can’t see anything. Doors are locked. Mail is piled in mailbox. Dispatch confirms there are no recent medical calls (taking someone to the hospital from the address). Run him in our database and he has not been arrested. Call both local hospitals to try to locate him. Look through the rear door window and there is a dog inside- no food or water, lots of poop on the ground. Climb on an air conditioner unit to see through a window- no luck. Call for fire department to come make entry. While waiting for fire department, I jimmy a window open and the odor is immediately overwhelming- clearly a decaying body. Shine my flashlight into house and can see the deceased body on the living room recliner. Call the coroner who comes with a livery van and 2 workers to remove the body to the county coroner’s office. Call animal resource center to come out for the dog. Contact the landlord to secure the residence. Unable to find next of kin. 3 hours.

Call 8- Shooting- young teen self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg. Says he dropped the gun and it went off. Other crews and fire/EMS are already on scene and treating the injury. Handgun on the coffee table, determine that no one has cleared the house for other occupants/weapons. I clear the house with 2 other officers, locate a few other unsecured guns, a large amount of ammo, and a large amount of drugs. Medics (and an officer) took kid to hospital, evidence crew came to document all of the items and scene, detectives are called out to deal with the drugs, children’s services is also called. Story then changes and apparently another child actually shot the gun at the child thinking it was unloaded, so this opened up a whole new direction of investigation. 2 hours- the scene was open for 6 hours total, but since we weren’t first on scene, we didn’t need to stay.

Since my day is finished, I fill up the cruiser with gas and clean it out. Head back to the district, change my clothes and clock out to head to the in-laws for dinner- 5pm.

And that is just a snippet of what one day can be like for a police officer! It’s no wonder he comes mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted every day.

Feel free to drop any questions that you may have below!