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Familiarize yourself with other local squad cars

How many times have we backed up or assisted a sister agency? Almost every day, right? But how familiar are you with their patrol cars? The local PD ended a pursuit next to my house while I was home and off-duty. After a short foot pursuit, the subject was in custody and sirens were still blaring. I threw on my Sheriff’s Office T-shirt for identification, geared up and ran outside to assist.

When I looked into the car with the siren on, I realized their units are set up with much different equipment than ours and I had no clue how to turn off the siren. I would have been able to identify myself and my presence and take away one factor adding to the confusion of the situation much sooner if I had been able to turn off the siren. Take an opportunity to familiarize yourself with a sister agency’s basic equipment before you need to operate it.

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