For most people, Friday night means relaxing with family or attending parties with friends.
Joshua McCain is not most people.
He’s one of about 60 officers in the Columbus Police Department assigned to patrol shifts. Every other weekend, he and the other officers on his shift spend Friday night driving around Columbus, responding to calls and keeping an eye out for traffic violations and other dangerous situations.
McCain’s shift lasts all night.
The Dispatch spent the night of Friday, June 19, with McCain, though he also spent a lot of that day working. He was in the honor guard for late representative Esther Harrison’s funeral service that afternoon and was a little more tired than usual as he arrived for his shift just before 6 p.m.
Still, he joked and cut up with the other officers as they all waited to be sworn in by their sergeant.
McCain checked his car before beginning his patrol. In the Mississippi summer air, some of CPD’s cars have been overheating. Thankfully, there are five new cars, but they are still being outfitted for patrols and can’t be used yet.
As McCain began his shift, storm clouds gathered over Columbus.
“If it rains,” he predicted, “we’ll have a lot of wrecks.”
The first stop on McCain’s patrol was a wreck just off 14th Avenue South, though it was not caused by rain. There were no injuries, and McCain was only at the scene for a few minutes before he was back on the road, doing the job few understand.
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A handful of officers have their own areas to patrol on a shift: North, South, East, West and Central.
Then there’s a back-up officer whose job is to respond to wherever he or she is needed. A lieutenant and sergeant are also on duty in case more officers are needed.
McCain had the South beat. It includes Mississippi University for Women, the area around Luxapalila Creek and assorted neighborhoods. Even so, McCain does not stick to one area the whole night — he’ll respond to nearby calls and backs up other officers in other parts of town.
Sure enough, within a few minutes after his patrol began, McCain overheard a call about a man who had been assaulted in north Columbus. McCain was on Main Street, and close by. He was the first to respond. He waited with the man, who had a bloody bump on his head, and questioned him as other officers and an ambulance arrived.
After that, McCain cruised through neighborhoods on his beat, giving friendly waves to the people he passed. He said he mostly wanted people to know he was there.
“I’m not here trying to ruin everyone’s day,” he said. “I’m trying to help people.”
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As McCain drove away from Luxapalila Creek, he noted that patrolling at night can be peaceful. It can also be boring, though, which is why it’s nice to have someone on a ride-a-long or why officers back each other up on calls.
The other reason to back each other up on calls is safety, of course. It can be dangerous patrolling at night, McCain said,
Soon after dark, the real action began.
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McCain responded to calls non-stop for hours — a traffic violation here, a fight there.
One fight began brewing between a group of teenagers in south Columbus, and multiple officers descended on the area. Most of the teens scattered when they saw blue lights flashing in the darkness, but the officers drove slowly around the area for a few minutes to make sure the juveniles had all gone home.
Another call came in.
A couple living in a house in west Columbus thought there might be an intruder in the vacant house behind theirs. The house had been empty for a year, but the couple had just seen a truck in the driveway and lights on in the house. For the moment, there was only one officer at the scene.
McCain was out of Southside and onto Main Street within minutes, picking up speed, flashing lights and turning on the siren when he approached several stoplights in a row. When he arrived outside the couple’s home, he got out to talk to them and the officer who first responded. The house was in a heavily wooded area with few neighbors around. It was impossible to see the vacant house from the road where the police cruisers were parked.
As soon as more backup arrived, McCain and two officers went to investigate, the beams from their flashlights bouncing off the trees. They disappeared into the woods.
Within minutes, they were back and reported that all was well.
The vacant house’s new owner had just signed the lease the Monday before and was spending the night to make sure the air conditioning worked.
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It is not always a pretty job, McCain said.
This particular Friday night was not a bad one — usually, he said, there are more disturbances.
His favorite part of the job is getting out in the community, being able to help people. He thinks this is why most officers get into it.
Officers see a lot of humanity’s bad side, he admitted, but his job has its bright spots.
“I like getting out and talking to people,” McCain said. “Helping people.”
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