I Was in Detox on New Years Eve

When the ball dropped at midnight I was in detox.  I was there because after spending the first part of the evening with my family and friends I decided to go into work and help out on the street as uniform patrol.  Around 9:00 P.M. I booked on with dispatch as squad 46. Downtown cars are given the number six as their second call number.  This was my favorite place to work when I was on patrol.  Downtown is by far the busiest district in the City and the cops who work there are usually busy their entire shift.  Cops who choose to work downtown like it because of the busy pace.  Those who work there who don't like it are there because they are low on seniority.    

New Years eve is usually busy with plenty of interesting calls.  The call that had me at detox at midnight came in as a drunk male in his early 20's who was jumping into people's cars.  He had no coat and was unable to talk coherently due to his drunkenness.  Some kind ladies who he tried to join in their car escorted him into a restaurant in Canal Park where I found him passed out on a bench.  When I awoke him he couldn't really talk and could hardly stand.  There was no other choice but to bring him to detox.

Fights and domestics were the most common call of the night.  I was surprised there were not more crashes as the roads were fairly slippery.  While responding to a domestic fight I drove down Mesaba Avenue on onto south bound I-35.  I noticed a white Chrysler traveling along side of me-except they came down the north bound Mesaba exit and entered north bound I-35 heading south!  I could not believe they didn't hit another car.  I slowed and watched as the driver who was a cement barricade and five lanes over realized what they had done and proceeded to try and turn around going the right direction.  There was nothing I could do except notify dispatch and ask if there were any squads close that could hop on north bound I-35 and take some action.  In a matter of seconds the Chrysler turned around and headed north on Mesaba.  I don't know how they escaped a crash.

My first incident of the night occurred after leaving headquarters.  I saw a Kia driving with out headlights on Fifth Avenue west.  I pulled the car over and found the driver to be an 18 year old male with an open bottle of Windsor on the floor.  He had a blood alcohol content of .07%.  The legal limit is .08%.  I tagged him for driving with out headlights, open bottle and underage drinking and driving. 

Numerous fight calls, suicide calls, loud parties and domestics rounded out the night.  I was amazed at the number of people downtown enjoying New Years eve.  It was good to see.  I rolled into bed about 3:40 and drifted off to sleep thinking how much I miss real police work.