Saturday night, I sat in a back of a police car, was involved in a police pursuit and saw multiple people in handcuffs. Lucky for me, it was because I was part of a citizen ridealong and not because I behaved in a manner that got me there.
And when I say “involved” in a police chase, I mean I sat in the car, watched the chase, tweeted about it and did nothing helpful but stay out of the way.
After spending nine hours with Officers Chris Engle and Heidi Lambley, who are assigned to College Hill, I learned there are very obvious ways to avoid trouble with the police.
It’s better to learn from the mistakes of your fellow classmates than make the same ones they did.
First off, if you break the law, don’t get caught. While you shouldn’t break the law in the first place, many do. The best place to break laws is in the privacy of your own house or apartment, where no one can see or smell you do it.
Also, sidewalks exist for a reason. Use them. No one wants to be hit by a car, and if an officer tells you to walk on the sidewalk, do it. Standing in the street is the best way to get noticed by the police.
Don’t walk around with an open container of alcohol. And yes, that even includes Mike’s Hard Lemonade and other barely-alcoholic type drinks. Unless you want to spend half a month of rent on an open beer, finish it before you leave the party.
Often times, landlords talk to the police, so even if your landlord is not around to check on you and the size of your party, don’t assume you can get away with things.
While there is no public intoxication law in Washington, you can get arrested for being disorderly or disturbing the peace, so please be on your best behavior.
Be a happy drunk, not an angry, mean or rude one. Along those lines, don’t fight, destroy things or behave like you might do either one.
Attitude will get you nowhere but in deeper trouble. If you are cooperative, everyone’s life will be easier and you may avoid a more serious charge.
And it doesn’t matter if you are a cute girl, kicking a bouncer in the groin is never a good idea.
Want more snarky and somewhat-obvious advice? Check out @DailyEvergreen on Twitter for Saturday night’s tweets.
Check out the rundown of Schendel's night with the police at The Daily Evergreen's unofficial police log.
Stephanie Schendel is a senior communication major from Seattle, WA. She writes a weekly humor for The Daily Evergreen. Her last column was about MTV's Jersey Shore.
