Handcuffs and Tasers!

On Friday we went on a field trip to the Grass Valley Police Department.  Our tour guide was officer Jim Amaral.  He was friends with our friend Monet and knows my uncle Chris.  He was nice and official.  He showed us a taser.  He told us that when you get hit by a taser 2-25 foot wires with barbs shoot out and stick into someones clothes.   The person is shocked through those wires.  It last for 5 seconds which he says feels like a really long time.  He took out the cartridge so the wires wouldn’t actually come out and he shot it to show us what the electricity looked like.  Each cartridge is only good for one time.  It was different than I thought it woul

d look.  I pictured it looking like a rod but it kind of looked like a gun.  I would not like to be hit by a taser!  He handcuffed our friend Cody and teased him that he didn’t have keys to unlock them:)  We also went outside to see a police car.  We got to sit in it.  The seats in the back were plastic so they are easier to clean.  He turned on the siren and it was so loud I think it would have broke my ear drum if I had not plugged my ears.  We also went into the 911 call center.  It had 3 television screens and two ladies sitting at their desks.  I asked them how many calls they get a day.  They said that sometimes they get a lot of calls and sometimes they just sit there with nothing to do and watch tv.

The last thing we did was see how fingerprinting is done.  Officer Amaral rolled Sophie’sfinger on a stamp pad and lifted it up and put in on a piece of paper in a rolling motion.  I thought it was going to be more complicated but it was not.  Police scare me because I am afraid of getting in trouble but I should not be scared of them because I don’t do anything wrong.  I had a fun time and learned a lot with my friends and family at the police station.

– Gracie –