Red Oak ride along impresses this reporter

RED OAK – I have done many a ride along with police departments in the Best Southwest and even Dallas PD.

My recent ride along in Red Oak however, was one of the most impressive.

I rode out with Red Oak’s Officer Grimes, an officer I knew from Lancaster PD as well.

Grimes recently moved north one city to Red Oak, and he said he is really enjoying the change and what the city staff and his Chief Garland Wolf does for the PD team.

After routine neighborhood drive-throughs where residents waved at Grimes and me on numerous occasions, we also did highway patrol before at around midnight there was a pursuit that ended with a crashed vehicle. 

Two occupants ran into the wood line, where one was found due to a piece of equipment on Grimes’ vehicle that helped to track one runner while trying to escape.

Note to anyone who might be considering it – don’t run from the Red Oak cops.

Another standout was on Grime’s shift there were five officers and a supervisor. One of the officers was Grimes, one was an officer in training who had just come from Dallas PD, and the other three were female officers. 

I said jokingly about these three females (Charlie’s Angels comes to mind if I am not dating myself), I laughingly said to Grimes I was going to call this article, “Move over boys, the women have arrived.”

The other impressive piece of equipment the Red Oak Police Department boasts is called a flock license plate reader system. Red Oak Police Chief Wolf said this is a “key tool to reducing crime in communities.”

The cameras capture objective vehicle data and, through AI technology, vehicle descriptions including license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions to include unique identifiers such as damage and stickers or various other markings.

“The software offers real-time hot sheets and alerts and searchable evidence and vehicle analytics allowing officers to improve response times during critical incidents and helps to streamline investigations,” Wolf explained.

“This technology allows for officers to spend less time searching for a lead as the information is captured autonomously providing objective data to find out what actually happened at a crime scene and how a vehicle may be involved and then decides evidence in real-time you may need for a case and expedites the exchange of information across a broad area and region.”