Guest Opinion | Geoffrey Baum: One Saturday Night in the Life of a Pasadena Cop

A few years back before mobile devices were everywhere, I spent a Saturday night with the Pasadena Police Department. It was an eye-opening experience as I joined a beat officer responding to calls across town.

We spent most of the evening patrolling the eastern quadrant of the city, Hastings Ranch, Upper Sierra Madre Villa, Rubio Canyon, and east Colorado Boulevard. The first of nine calls that day came soon after roll call completed at 3:00 pm.

A mom reported her 14 year old daughter missing after the two had an argument. The girl left a goodbye note. The officer interviewed the mother, took key information, including a photo and a copy of the note, and reassured her that we would do our best to find her.

Back on the road, we were in the vicinity of Foothill and S. San Gabriel Boulevards when we heard a loud crash. Following the noise, we arrived at the scene of a terrifying car accident. A young man driving a Honda had broadsided a minivan with a family on their way to dinner. Among the eight passengers in the minivan were an infant and two toddlers, none of whom were in child safety seats. On scene immediately following the crash, the officer summoned emergency medical assistance, which arrived within minutes, and blocked traffic so no one else got hurt. Ambulances transported the injured to Huntington Memorial Hospital and tow trucks removed the vehicles and debris from the road.

After responding to a few more incidents, we got word that the missing girl from the earlier call had returned home. We went back to return the photo and sat down with the mom and her daughter. The officer counseled the family about how to resolve disagreements before they lead to more problems and how the mom’s household rules come from her concern for her daughter’s safety. Both mother and daughter expressed gratitude for the officer’s involvement and the three year old little brother got his wish for a blast of the siren as we left the quiet neighborhood.

The last call of the night was heartbreaking. Near midnight, we received a call to respond to an attempted suicide on East Colorado Boulevard. We found a single mom and her three daughters living in a motel room.

The family had previously been in a shelter for victims of domestic violence and moved into the motel a week earlier. The middle daughter, a bright and chatty 7-year-old named Angelina, suffers from mental illness. That evening, Angelina’s mom had come out of the shower to find the girl attempting to strangle herself with a bathrobe belt tied around her neck. The girl reported that she was hearing voices telling her to hurt her sisters. She explained that she was attempting to rid herself of the voices by squeezing them out of her head.

It was a quick education in the challenges to access to medical care as we tried to find help for a sick little girl in the middle of the night. The officer worked the phones and was rejected by four different hospitals, including the one that had discharged Angelina a month earlier, before finding an opening at Los Angeles County Hospital in downtown Los Angeles.

Since Angelina’s mom had no car and no one to look after the other children, the officer and I took custody of Angelina and transported her to the hospital.

Along the way, she told me stories of the physical abuse she suffered from her father. She tried to keep her spirits up as we arranged to have her admitted. Despite the friendliness of the staff, the county hospital is a frightening and depressing place. A tear ran down Angelina’s cheek as we had to leave her alone at the hospital and return to Pasadena.

The next day, I returned to the motel to check on the family, but they had already checked out without leaving any contact information.

Our system is broken. Police have been asked to do much more than enforce the law. Citizens from every neighborhood, every racial and ethnic group, every economic class, count on Pasadena police officers to resolve disputes, protect safety, and answer calls for help in times of distress.

The officers I observed were no exception. They responded to each call with concern and professionalism. During the entire shift, we made no arrests and wrote one traffic ticket. Because of level-headed work and judgement, Pasadena is a safer city as crime has declined over the years.

As we engage in the needed debate over the allocation of law enforcement training and resources, we should not overlook the often unnoticed acts of everyday compassion by officers who patrol our streets and serve the community.

Geoffrey Baum is a former trustee of Pasadena City College and the former President of the West Pasadena Residents Association.