Guest Blog: Call of Duty

Today was definitely my craziest day working for the show. It was also a day I will never forget.

It started as most days do, roll call and briefing. We spend about a half an hour each day before going out on the streets discussing suspects we are looking for, areas of town on which to focus patrols, safety, general stuff.

The officer we were scheduled to ride with was a little late today for good reason: He received the Life Saving Award. He was being honored at a ceremony by the Sheriff for saving a little boy who was found unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Kind of ironic, considering the afternoon that awaited us.

After a couple of routine calls we were dispatched to a location the Fire Department was on regarding a patient of theirs that was acting crazy. They requested we expedite our getting there so we "rolled code" meaning lights and siren. That alone can get your adrenaline going. When we arrived our subject was crawling around on the ground mumbling to himself--nothing too crazy. Our officer got out and started yelling his normal commands ("Stop! Police!") when the guy decided to get up and just walk away. I was doing what we do a hundred times a week: just following the action with the camera. Our officer calmly got on the radio alerted the dispatcher that we would not engage the subject until back-up arrived. That is when the guy decided to get down on his stomach and give up.

Well, that's what we thought, anyway.

As the officer began the process of handcuffing the suspect the guy went crazy. He was definitely high on something. He began to over power the officer. He jumped up to his feet and the fight was on. "POLICE OFFICER GET ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE GROUND NOW"!! They began fighting hand-to-hand. The officer got a leg up by throwing a roundhouse that knocked the suspect to the ground but as high as this guy was he didn't feel a thing.

In the meantime, I'm still rolling on the whole thing.

The guy gets up, they scuffle (though "scuffle" sounds cute compared to what it looked like) some more. He tries grabbing at the officer's belt and they start wrestling.

The suspect throws our officer on his back.

That is when we went from camera crew to citizens needing to help an officer in trouble. My sound guy made a lunge at the suspect but before he even got there I had a knee in the guys face and two hundred and fifty pounds in his back holding him down. I somehow was able to hand the camera off to my sound guy and he started shooting. At that time, the fire men jumped in and back up arrived. Our officer tazed the guy but it had zero impact. In the end, it took four officers to get the guy subdued and in handcuffs.

That is what cocaine will do to you, kids.

We went back to our job and finished covering the story. I'm wondering what could have happened if we weren't there? All because some freaking idiot got high on coke and started flipping out! It gave me even more appreciation of what these men do on a daily basis to keep us safe. I was also proud of what we did to help him. I wouldn't change anything we did. We couldn't just watch as this guy overpowered our officer. It's hard to think about. One minute you're saving someone's life, the next you are faced with the possibility of taking one--or losing your own.

Tomorrow we'll go out and see what other crazy we can get into. Tonight we can sleep knowing this guy can't hurt anyone else. I knew going in there was a possibility something like this could happen. I just didn't know it would happen so quickly!