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Yelling instructions
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By Andrew Cox
I arrived at the Minneapolis Second Precinct Police Station excited and starry eyed for my police ride along, nervous about the unknown night ahead of me. I promptly met Sergeant Madson, who instantly sized me up and let me know he didn’t trust anyone but cops. Off to a great start, I sweated through his interview, where I couldn’t answer correctly. Luckily, I somehow passed. Feeling stupid and confused, we headed for his squad car.
Key in the ignition, turn and nothing. Someone left the computer on, which drained the car battery. “Most of our equipment is a bit beat up and kinda old,” Sgt Madson informs me as we search the lot for a car with jumper cables. His squad doesn’t even carry a shotgun between the seats. Other precincts have audio and video cameras and even military triangulation sensors to determine where gunshots are coming from. The Second Precinct, not so much.
Cruising the University of Minnesota campus, I ask about the beat. The Second Precinct’s number one crime is theft followed by property damage. A safe and relatively low-crime precinct Sgt Madson says. “This job is 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror,” Sgt Madson tells me. “The most dangerous part of this job I do every day is driving. My squad’s been hit four times, once totaled.” After circling campus another hour, we head for North East and dinner.
As a Duty Sergeant, Madson supervises all the officers on his shift, meaning he could spend his entire shift in the comforts of the station, but he doesn’t. “I’m not running down alleys or chasing cars on the freeway anymore, but I need to be out here.” He explains that certain calls require his presence, for instance, if a weapon is recovered at a crime scene or if an officer uses their gun. Also, you can’t police a community if you aren’t part of it.
After ten years on the force, and the previous eight as a Marine rifleman, Sgt Madson has seen a lot. “Officer discretion is everything out here,” Sgt Madson explains. “We never know what someone might do, so we have to be on guard at all times. Both to protect ourselves and citizens.” The situation can and will change rapidly. Sgt Madson has gone from rescuing someone to fighting them in seconds. You just don’t know what someone might do.
I asked Sgt Madson if he could change one thing about his job what would it be? “Time with family. We work long hours, rotating schedules. When I’m on night shifts, I don’t get to tuck my two little girls into bed at night. I go to work before they get home from school, so I sometimes go days without seeing them.”
A police officer isn’t just a job. It’s an identity. As Sgt Madson dropped me off in front of the station, he yelled, “Most people are like sheep. A tiny group of people are like wolves, trying to take advantage of the sheep. And another tiny group of people are like sheepdogs, who protect the sheep from the wolves. That’s what I do, I’m a sheepdog.”
“We are necessary to keep the Army going. We move troops and supplies, and aren’t limited by terrain.”
Favorite running jacket
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