Behind the Badge

    After arriving on Altis after a long boat ride from AAN's US station in Kavala I was exhausted. What should I report on first I thought to myself. After being rudely awoken from my half asleep state by a passing police car with its sirens at full blast and with more flashing lights then a west San Diego rave, it hit me. Why not do my first story on first responders? I quickly sent a text message to Chief Inspector Brandon of the Altis Police force's Armed Response team to ask if I may be able to do a ride along with him. In less 30 seconds I received a reply. I guess they don't call them first responders for nothing. He asked me to meet him at the airport and we could drive around from there with a polite warning to make sure not to break the speed limit while driving to him. I quickly jumped into the AAN van and drove quickly (while under the speed limit) to the airport to begin the ride along. Brandon gave a polite greeting as he invited me into his fully cop car and we began the drive. We were later joined by Chief Inspector LastNickLeft from the Altis Police force's National Police Air Service. As an officer with over 4 years of service under his belt Officer LastNickLeft was able to give me more insight into the history of the Altis Police force. 



    As the ride continued I asked Brandon and other people we met if they could could sum up the Altis Police force in one word what would it be? I was expecting answers such as 'Pigs', 'overindulgent', 'self-rightous' etc. The responses I heard words such as 'heroes', 'helpful' and other positives. My word to describe the Altis Police force would have to be compassionate. On every stop we made Officers Brandon and LastNickLeft were compassionate to those they interacted with. From fixing a person car to escorting a frightened diamond miner and his shipment they were incredibly compassionate. The best example however was after a quick high speed chase with a HEMTT truck. As the officers explained to the driver what his crimes were he didn't seem to quite understand. The driver explained that English was not his first language, to which officer Brandon asked him what his first language was. When the driver explained that he spoke Arabic Brandon tried his best to explain to the driver in Arabic, though from Brandon's own admission he is not a fluent speaker. Its with experiences like this that show what the police are meant for: helping the public. 



    While I have not had enough experience on the island yet to say what the police force as a whole is like, I can say for certain that if its filled with officers such as Brandon and LastNickLeft then I can't wait to get my next parking ticket.