I watch Live on Patrol, so I am a Backseater. I ride along with Sheriff Bob Fletcher, Pat Scott, and Joe Miller. Sheriff Fletcher, who prefers us to call him Bob, is the sheriff of Ramsey County, Minnesota, which includes the capitol of St. Paul. It is a smallest county in the state, while being one of the largest by population. St. Paul and Minneapolis are known as the Twin Cities. St. Paul is the location of the Minnesota Wild hockey team. Bob’s first partner is Pat Scott, Master of Analysis and Count of Clear Right, Knighted Member of the Vulcan. Pat is a crime analyst, who even while patrolling in the unmarked Dodge Durango has analyzed license plates to determine the correct address for a perpetrator of crime. Pat is excellent at recognizing vehicles, as well. Pat recently was joined by Joe Miller, who is a Deputy/Crime Analyst. Joe sits in the back with us Backseaters, which is a rather amazing feat given that there’s more than 10,000 of us. Joe analyzes the situation even while Pat is keeping an eye on traffic while Bob is speeding to a scene with lights on.
Watching Live on Patrol isn’t about the action. It is about the community.
I’ve learned about St. Paul, Ramsey County, various laws, restaurants, community service organizations, current events, community policing, history, and much, much more. These things are the reasons I watch the episodes, over and over again. I’ve seen some of them 5 or so times each. One of my favorites was the tour of the rail system that is such an important part of St. Paul’s history and current industry, along with the Mississippi River’s barges.
St. Paul has two sides, East and West, which are actually North and South. They are called East and West because of which side of the Mississippi River they are on, even though the river divides the city the other way.
Bob, Pat, and Joe, known by Backseaters as P, B, & J, like the sandwich, patrol all over the County and go into Minneapolis and Hennepin County to help over there, when invited or needed. There are episodes that show looting and the later results of rioting and looting, such as businesses that are still shut down and boarded up months later. Some will never recover.
Bob started Live on Patrol after the riots and looting that occurred after the death of George Floyd. His goal was to improve police – community relations, to show that police are humans, and to show the truth of being a law enforcement officer.
Unlike most officers, P, B, & J are not dispatched to one event after another. They go where they feel they are needed to assist other officers. They also handle situations on their own, whenever needed.
Some nights they stay busy until about 4 a.m., while other nights are quiet with little crime. I enjoy watching on both kinds of nights. Live on Patrol isn’t about action, action, action, unlike LivePD.
Live on Patrol is about community policing. It’s about good people doing a tough job. There are more police like P, B, & J than there are bad apples. Yes, the bad cops need to no longer be cops. However, people need to realize there are more good cops than bad ones, which is true of every group of people out there.
Don’t take my word for it. Watch Live on Patrol and make up your own mind.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Liveonpatrol
https://www.facebook.com/bob.fletcher.1800
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkHBaplUW2OH3_jqltpOK8g/featured
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