We do full background checks on potential ride along candidates. We also only allow them to be with us for about 4 hours at a time. The police chief gives the final okay. Most people that ride are those interested in becoming cops, media, or people working on college thesis. Every now and then we have politicians ride with us. Sometimes the spouse as well so that they understand why we can sometimes be arseholes when we get home.
My wife has ridden with me a few times. Each time she is mentally exhausted by the end of the less than half shift ride. She drives me crazy with the "watch out for that car!. The guy might have a gun! Be careful! Did you see that guy over there! Make sure someone doesn't jump out of the bushes! Don't let Bodie (the dog) get hurt! How can you be so calm?...That guy/girl is bleeding all over the place!" etc etc etc.
There's a local NAACP sh*t stirrer who rides now and then. He actively covertly tries to get dirt on cops. He solicits questions in hopes of getting cops to say something damning. A real POS but politically we have to let him ride per our policy or get lambasted in the local newspaper which he is a bigwig at. Regular citizens find the job extremely overwhelming when they realize that we have to be hard, soft, doctors, psychiatrists, parents to punks, mechanics, animal control officers, law proffessors etc etc. Oh, and the mountain of paperwork and the fear of being personally sued for the slightest of indescretions or failure to properly enforce one of the thousands of laws or keep up with the latest law revision. Oh yea, it's real romantic. No wonder why everyone loves firemen.
