Lights flashing, siren blazing, we chased after the car and pulled over the driver. The vehicle had sped past us and was headed straight into a one-way street in the wrong direction. Patrol Deputy for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) Al James jumped into action.

“That was very dangerous,” he said afterwards. “We could have just witnessed a serious head-on collision, but luckily we didn’t. That was an arrestable offense, but I only gave her a citation.”

Many students criticize the police force on campus for being too strict on minor offenses that they consider to be mere inconveniences. Some, for instance, feel that parking a bike in the wrong place or biking without a light at night are silly reasons to get stopped and ticketed. But what is it really like to be a police officer at Stanford?

The Ride-Along Program allows students to ride in the passenger seat of a police car and patrol campus with a deputy. I decided to go on a ride to try to uncover some of the myths and facts firsthand.

“The Ride-Along Program is offered to the Stanford community to give them greater insight into the pubic safety issues that affect campus,” said Melissa Dubois, senior program manager for the community outreach program of DPS. “Our goal with all of our community outreach programs is to create a dialogue with the community, maintain open lines of communication, provide educational materials and programs and assist residents in reducing the opportunity for crime.”

I was assigned to ride in a large police SUV with James for a two-and-a-half-hour shift on a Tuesday afternoon. As he introduced himself to me, the first thing I noticed was a large shotgun in the back of the vehicle along with other police equipment. James soon explained the gun’s presence.

“We are the police force that will provide the primary, initial response to any situation,” he said. “If there is a situation such as the shootings in Virginia Tech, we will be the first ones on the scene to deal with it. We provide a service to the community in the form of general patrol activities and law enforcement.”

So just how many police officers are there? Can we expect them to be hiding around every corner, waiting to ticket unsuspecting students?

“On the day shift, there are usually three vehicles patrolling the area, and during the big party nights there are usually more,” James said. “But on the whole, there are not that many cops on the street. So we want people to be our ears and eyes. Call us. Get the word out. Utilize us.”

When asked why the police feel the need to enforce certain rules, apart from the fact that they are the law, James explained that the safety element was a strong motivation.

“We feel like we have failed if we need to take individuals to the hospital for injuries that could have been easily avoided,” he said.

Do the police always give students tickets for running stop signs? No, James said. What about biking without a light at night? Not always. There is some discretion involved on the part of the police officer. Instead of actively clamping down on students, sometimes officers can just give individuals warnings. These warnings are not recorded and only serve to educate the individual about the error made. However, James pointed out that if an offense is egregious enough, then the individual will definitely be ticketed.

“It’s about finding the right balance and determining what to do in each unique situation,” he said.

During the ride, James explained some of the things a police officer monitors while patrolling: smoke, traffic problems and conspicuous individuals who don’t appear to belong in residential areas. Officers also usually keep their windows down at all times so that they can hear sounds on the street as well as any calls for help.

The police force also deals with the darker side of law enforcement work. Domestic violence, suicides, mental illnesses, assaults and even murders are not unknown to officers at Stanford. James said the last murder he could recall occurred in the late 1990s.

“Stanford is a relatively safe place for your personal body,” he said. “But that is not necessarily the case for your property — property theft is rampant on campus.”

The patrol also took me to the outskirts of the campus, to areas where few students venture. The “faculty ghetto,” as it is affectionately called, contains more than a thousand homes where faculty and staff members can live. We passed by “Hannah House,” designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; the house of former Secretary of State George Schultz; and President Hennessy’s current residence, the Lou Henry Hoover House.

“As you can see, the campus is huge,” James said. “Simply patrolling around the houses takes over an hour to go through.”

James said that in his 16 years at Stanford, he has become very familiar with the campus.

“If there is a car on campus that I haven’t seen before, I will know it,” he said.

Aside from the Ride-Along Program, another way to learn more about the police services is through the Community Police Academy, which gives members of the Stanford community an opportunity to see firsthand the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement officers.

James spoke approvingly of these community outreach programs and explained that the police force doesn’t want to be seen as eager to give individuals tickets. Nor do officers want to constantly nag the public by telling them what to do. By giving people tickets, they hope to provide an educational service that will result in positive behavioral modification.

“The public are our clients,” he said. “We want to provide them with the best service possible and treat them with dignity and respect. These outreach programs help students and other members of the community understand what exactly it is we do.”