Officer Craig and I were the first on the scene.  The man was lying faceup on the floor of a building lobby.  His face was extremely purple. Crying onlookers stared as we began to prep. He was wearing 3 layers of clothes and his backpack still on. Officer Craig and I began preparing to start CPR.  My job was to set up a bag valve mask while Officer Craig began setting up an AED. Another officer came and ripped open the man’s shirt to begin chest compressions. The buttons from his dress shirt went flying all over the room.  By the time I finished setting up the BVM, paramedics and other officers arrived to the scene.  It was very stressful at first, but settled down shortly after.  The paramedics set up an automated compression machine on the man and began giving him shots of various medications.  My job  was to hold up a medication bag while the EMTs treated the man.  After 30 minutes of tirelessly trying to revive the man, he was pronounced dead.

Officer Craig’s shift started at 6pm.  He picked me up from the station, and we set out to help the unresponsive man.  After that intense start to the night, Officer Craig and I began handing out candy and stickers to children around the neighborhood.  Not too long later, another call came in of 2 teenagers stealing candy and pushing down kids.  We made contact with the caller who gave a description of the teens.  After 45 minutes of trying to locate them, we moved on.

While on patrol, I asked Officer Craig why he enjoyed being a police officer.  Officer Craig stated that he loved people.  “You need to be a people person to be in this profession.  You may be dealing with someone who is having the worst day of their life and you have to work through the situation with them.”

Later in the ride along, a tip from the Fridley Police came in that there was a possibly suicidal man with a gun in the area.  Due to the circumstance of the call, we stayed near but not in the complete vicinity of the call.  The man was never located.

Other incidents during the night were a stolen purse and a harassment complaint.  We completed a stolen car report and conducted various traffic stops.  One ticket was written for no proof of insurance.

After going on this ride along, I could tell a police officer’s job isn’t easy.  Officers are having to deal with death and stressful situations on a daily basis.  Thank you to Officer Craig and the New Brighton Police Department.