CP rides along with Officer Russell for a night of speed, piss and bagels
Ben Russell is young. Only 24. Tall too. He is about 6’3″. He is like other guys his age: He watches the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, listens to Radiohead, and enjoys the outdoors. He majors in political science at CU. He laughs every time he watches “Wedding Crashers.”
But Russell takes on a different role every Thursday and Sunday: He becomes an officer for the Campus Police.
Despite his youth, his night differs from his peer’s. He drives up on the Hill to hear girls yell “pig” at his squad car. Russell says he arrested someone on Pearl Street for creating disorder and heard people shout “Rodney King.”
So goes the life of a police officer. People often claim that the police are never there when they need them, but always there when they don’t want them. Officer Russell is rarely wanted, but often needed.
Why does he do this job? It has something to do with his father, a police officer up in Grand Junction. He wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
“My dad is a police officer and he always seemed to enjoy the job. I’ve always been drawn to the excitement and change,” Russell said.
He thinks people would have fewer run-ins with police if they behaved.
“If you don’t want to get contacted by police, then don’t do stupid stuff,” Russell said.
Thursday night showed a glimpse of his typical patrol.
8:52 p.m.
Ben pulls over a driver with a suspended license. The stop irritates the driver of the car. Officer Russell writes him a ticket and asks him to step out of the car. The other officer at the scene stands with the man while Ben parks the car at the corner of 31st Street and Moorhead Avenue. He gives the keys back to the man and lets him go on his way.
9:15 p.m.
Ben parks the police car in front of Sewall. He responds to a call about harassment. He walks into the front resident hall office where four people await him.
The red-haired student tells the officer that his roommate said to his friend, “If he doesn’t wake up alive, it’s not my fault.”
The other people in the room tell Officer Russell that the harasser is weird and that he makes fun of speakers at hall meetings.
Officer Russell writes down the complaint, but could not find the student who presented the threat. Ben will have to come back later.
10:09 p.m.
Officer Russell gets back in his car. He drives up through campus, past the tunnel leading to the Hill and on to Hellems.
He drives by the blue lights on campus that people can push when they are in trouble. He said that over 400 are activated each year, but usually only four are genuine cases.
“Most times, there’s never anybody there,” Russell said.
He comments on a movie he now likes: “Super Troopers.”
“I never really liked it, but once I became a cop, I really thought it was funny,” Russell said.
10:20 p.m.
Russell sees a Subaru Outback with a headlight out. He pulls it over and asks the driver for her license. He walks back to his car, gets in and runs a check on the computer. Ben has issues with the computer.
“It’s turned out to be unreliable. At least once a night you have to reboot your computer,” Russell said.
Officer Russell walks back to the car and gives the girl a warning.
“One girl last week, I gave her a warning. Twenty minutes later, I saw her run through a red light. She said she was a pizza delivery girl, and it was a sign from God to quit her job,” Russell said.
10:36 p.m.
A man with a backpack flags down Officer Russell for directions. He asks him where Speer Boulevard is located. Ben tells him that he is in the wrong city; Speer is in Denver and he is in Boulder. Officer Russell tells the man what buses to get on and where the stops are. The man thanks Ben and goes on his way.
“He meant to go to DU and he ended up at CU,” Russell said.
10:50 p.m.
Russell sees a man peeing on a tree outside of Wendy’s on Baseline. He stops his car and commands the man’s attention.
“Come here, I said come here,” Russell said.
The man looks like he might run but doesn’t. Ben asks for his license and tells him to button up his pants.
“Why would you pee on a tree when you’re 50 yards away from a restroom?” Russell said.
Ben writes a citation for public urination and hands it to the man. The two say good night and good luck to each other.
Russell gets back in his car and makes an honest comment about the incident.
“That’s personally something I don’t want to see when I’m in Wendy’s eating my hamburger,” Russell said.
11:25 p.m.
Ben parks his patrol car outside a 7-11. He walks in and buys a coffee. No doughnuts.
“There’s no doughnut shop in Boulder. We kind of missed out. Now it’s the new-age cops, they eat bagels,” Russell said.
11:36 p.m.
Officer Russell drives up Broadway and stops at the red light around Starbucks. Another officer pulls up next to his car and they swap stories. The other officer tells Ben that he pulled over someone for driving 75 mph in an area where the speed limit was 30 mph. The light turns green and the other officer waves and drives away.
12:00 a.m.
Officer Russell pulls into headquarters on Regent Drive. He walks in and sits down in a chair. It has been a long night and there is more ahead for Ben. And so goes the life of a police officer.
