Oh man. It's been a long two days. Yesterday we spent the morning riding along with a trooper on the road for basic traffic violation stops. It was very fun to be in the vehicle! However, nothing horribly exciting happened.
Then the evening was spent with the Florida Highway Patrol K9 Units during a routine training session. We first spent a few hours in a park. All of the units met up in an open field and after some warm up and basic obedience, the dogs and their handlers took turns attacking the person in the bite suit. My best pictures were taken with S&L's camera but I'll have a few below. It was very exciting to be so close to this kind of action! These dogs are amazing! After that training and some dinner, we went with the K9 Units to an abandoned building where the dogs each had an opportunity for some training with tracking scents. Someone got into the bite suit and hid in the building and the dogs were evaluated on how quickly they could find him. Again, very exciting to be following such talented dogs. We'll be meeting up with them again tomorrow for some real work, not just training.
Today, we spent the morning with the aviation sector of the FHP. They were doing a routine aviation detail where one guy is up in a small plane, circling portions of the highway and calculating speeds of fast vehicles. Once he spots one, he gets on the radio and the first trooper in line jumps behind that vehicle and pulls him over. There were about 6 cars in this continuous line and I got to ride with a very friendly and awesome guy. Again, it was quite the experience to ride along when these guys have to chase a car! This was the first time I was shooting by myself (as in, the other crew members were in other cars), and I think I did pretty well! We also had a woman in the plane with a camera and two smaller cameras attached to the outside of the plane. The footage is awesome!!
Then in the afternoon, we interviewed a few members of the TRT (Tactical Response Team, similar to a SWAT team) and got to check out the various vehicles they use and how the warrant process works when they have to arrest someone.
That was pretty much what we did today and yesterday, and it's been hot and exhausting! Once I have access to other pictures and video, I'll be sure to post it!
Q
Actually, I just realized I don't have a great picture editor (to downsize and crop pictures) on my netbook...so once I get back home, I'll be sure to put up the good stuff!
