Questions to Ask on a Ride Along
Questions to ask on a ride along, written for a shift in a patrol car, an ambulance or a fire engine and worded so that most also work in a service van or on a sales route. They run in the order of the shift: the ground rules before you pull out, what to ask during the ride and after a call, the job as it really is, how people get hired, and what to settle before you go home. If you want good questions to ask a police officer during a ride along, the ones on traffic stops, body cameras and arrests are under On the road, and applicants riding ahead of a police interview have a run of their own at the end of Getting hired.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start of shift
Before we head out, what are the ground rules for me today?
Why ask it
Every program has its own rules, and a host would rather spell them out than watch you guess. Expect specifics: where to sit, what not to touch, when to stay in the vehicle, whether photos are allowed, who you may speak to.
If something happens fast, what do you want me to do?
Why ask it
Usually the answer is short: stay in the vehicle, or stay right behind me. Say it back to them, because it is the one instruction you will get no chance to ask about later. If they have not thought about it, settle it now and not in the middle of a call.
What made you choose this work, and how long have you been at it?
Why ask it
The opener nearly every host expects, and an easy one to answer while the vehicle is still parked. Their years in also set the scale for the rest of the day: hiring advice from someone who joined last year is current, and advice from someone who joined long ago may not be.
What shift do you normally work, and how busy does this one tend to get?
Why ask it
Days, nights and weekends can look like three different jobs, so find out which one you are seeing before you generalize from a dead Tuesday or a hectic Friday night. If you may apply, follow up on how shifts are handed out here, whether by seniority, bidding or assignment.
What area are we covering today, and what should I know about it?
Why ask it
A beat, a district, a first-due area or a route each has its own rhythm: bar closing time, one stretch of highway, an address every crew knows. Hearing it now means the calls will make sense as they come in.
Are there calls you would rather I sat out, and how will you tell me?
Why ask it
Some programs keep riders away from certain scenes, and a host may drop you at a station or a safe corner before going in. Agree on it in advance and being left behind is a plan, not a snub. Policies differ, so ask how it works at this agency.
Is there any equipment in here I should know how to use, or leave alone?
Why ask it
Some hosts show a rider how to key the radio and give a location in case they cannot do it themselves. Others want your hands off everything, seat controls included. Find out which host you have before the first call, not during it.
If someone at a scene asks who I am, what should I say?
Why ask it
People do ask, and a stranger in plain clothes standing behind a uniform can make them wary. One agreed line, usually that you are an observer, saves you from improvising in front of someone who is having a bad day.
Is anything I see or hear today off limits to repeat?
Why ask it
You will hear names, addresses and personal or medical details that are not yours to pass on. Privacy rules differ by service and by place, so ask what applies here, and assume the answer covers social media even if nobody says so.
I am writing this ride up for a class. May I take notes and quote you?
Why ask it
For anyone treating the ride as an interview for school, a paper or an article. Some agencies want anything published to pass through a press or public information office first, so ask how it works at this one before you write a word. A host who knows what the notes are for speaks more freely than one left guessing.
When do you usually get to eat, and should I have brought something?
Why ask it
A meal on shift is often whatever fits between calls, and it can be cut short without warning. Ask early and you learn whether there is a regular stop, whether you should have cash on you, and whether the snack in your pocket is your whole dinner.
On the road
What are you actually looking for as we drive?
Why ask it
Someone who has driven the same streets for years scans without thinking about it and rarely explains it unless asked. What they pick out, and what they have learned to ignore, is the nearest you will get to seeing the skill itself.
What made you take a second look at that just now?
Why ask it
Best asked within seconds of seeing their head turn. A plate, a door standing open, someone walking the wrong way for the hour: one worked example teaches more than any general answer about observation.
How much of this job happens in the vehicle, and how much out of it?
Why ask it
The answer is a ratio: driving, waiting and typing on one side, time on scene on the other. Get it early in the shift, before one lively call persuades you the whole job looks like that.
What was that on the radio just now, and how do you follow it while we talk?
Why ask it
Radio traffic sounds like noise to a rider and like a running map to the person beside you. Have them translate one exchange: who was calling, what the codes mean at this agency, and what made them reach for the volume.
How do calls reach you, and who decides which one comes first?
Why ask it
Dispatch, a screen in the vehicle, a phone, a printed schedule: the route a job takes to reach the crew explains much of what looks like waiting. Priority is often set by someone who is not in the driver's seat, so ask who that is and whether your host can ever overrule them.
What is the most common call here, and what does it usually turn out to be?
Why ask it
Expect something ordinary: alarm activations, welfare checks, falls, minor crashes, noise complaints. The everyday call is what most of a career is made of, so judge the job by that one and not by the rare dramatic one.
What do you wish callers had done before you got there?
Why ask it
Small things come up: a house number that can be read from the street, the dog shut in another room, someone at the door to point the way. It is the one answer from today you can use at home, and worth asking even if you never plan to apply.
What do you do with the time between calls?
Why ask it
On a slow shift this replaces the apology for nothing happening. Patrol checks, follow-ups, training, restocking, catching up on reports: the way they fill unassigned hours tells you whether the job suits someone who needs to be told what to do next.
Do you see the same people and addresses again and again?
Why ask it
Most hosts say yes and describe a few without naming them. The tone they use for the regulars, patient, amused or worn out, says a good deal about what years in the work have done to their outlook.
What equipment do you rely on most, and what lets you down?
Why ask it
A radio with dead spots, a laptop that freezes in the middle of a report, a stretcher that takes two people: gear complaints are easy to voice to a stranger. They also hint at where this service spends its money and where it does not.
How much of what you do out here is your own call, and how much is set by policy or protocol?
Why ask it
Listen for which decisions they name as theirs: whether to stop a car, how to word a warning, which hospital to head for, when to ask for more help. Where the rulebook ends and their judgment starts is something no job posting describes.
What do you do to keep yourself safe that I would not notice?
Why ask it
Where they park, how they approach a door, where they stand while talking: habits built from training and near misses. Once you have heard them listed you will spot them at every stop for the rest of the shift, and you will know where to stand yourself.
On a traffic stop, what are you watching as you walk up to the car?
Why ask it
A patrol question, and best asked once a stop is finished and you are rolling again. Expect a routine in the answer: where the patrol car is angled, which side they come up on, what they check through the back window before they reach the driver.
How do you settle someone who is already angry when you arrive?
Why ask it
Talking is the part of police work a rider can actually watch. Hear how they describe it, the low voice, the step to one side, letting the person finish, and then look for the same moves at the next call.
Does wearing a body camera change how you work?
Why ask it
Rules on when a camera has to be running differ by agency, so the answer also tells you how it works at this one. Some officers will call it protection and others one more thing to manage. Ask too whether you are likely to be on the recording.
After an arrest, what happens between the back seat and the end of your paperwork?
Why ask it
A rider may see the arrest and almost never the hours that follow: the drive, booking, property, the report, perhaps a court date months later. Ask how long one arrest takes them off the street, because that figure shapes a whole shift.
After a call
What did I miss on that call that you were paying attention to?
Why ask it
You watched the same scene and took in a fraction of it. Where they stood, whose hands they watched, what they asked first and why: this is the question that turns a ride along from sightseeing into learning.
What other ways could that have gone, and why did you choose this one?
Why ask it
Curiosity in the voice matters here, because the same words can sound like a challenge. Many calls can end several acceptable ways, and hearing why they picked a warning, a referral or a trip to hospital shows you where the judgment in the job sits.
Was that how that kind of call usually goes?
Why ask it
A rider has a sample of one. If the calm call you just watched was the exception, or the shouting was routine, you need to hear that from them before the picture sets.
Who were all the other people at that call, and who was in charge?
Why ask it
A rider sees uniforms and vehicles arrive and cannot tell who works for whom. Have them name each one, a second unit, a supervisor, a fire crew, a tow driver, and say who was running the scene. Working alongside other crews and agencies is a large share of the job, and this is how you get to see it.
Did having me along change how you handled that?
Why ask it
A fair thing to ask, and most hosts answer it straight. If you slowed them down or made someone at the scene uneasy, better to learn it after the first call than the fifth.
Once we clear this, what's left for you to do?
Why ask it
Reports, logging, restocking and cleaning rarely appear in recruiting material, and a call is not finished until they are. If your host groans before answering, you have found the chore they like least.
Can you walk me through what you are typing right now?
Why ask it
Only once they are parked and unhurried. Watching one report or chart get written shows what the system demands, how much is free text and how much is boxes, and why the write-up can outlast the event it describes.
What happens to that person or that case after you leave?
Why ask it
The crew usually sees one slice: the handover at the hospital door, the report sent up the line, the job ticket closed. Whether they ever learn the ending, and whether not knowing bothers them, is a real part of the work.
The job
What did you expect this job to be before you started?
Why ask it
You are riding with your own picture of the job, and they once had one too. Ask which part of theirs turned out wrong, the paperwork, the pace or the people, and compare it with the picture you walked in with this morning.
Which part of the job do you still look forward to?
Why ask it
Hosts get asked about the hard parts all shift. What they still enjoy after years, the driving, the problem solving, the crew, one kind of call, is a better test of whether the work would suit you than any list of drawbacks.
What part of the work wears on you?
Why ask it
Asking what wears on them, not what is challenging, gets you sleep, missed family events and one recurring kind of call in place of an interview answer. A good follow-up is how long they had been in before they noticed it.
What did last month's schedule really look like, counting overtime and court or training days?
Why ask it
A printed rotation leaves out held-over shifts, mandatory overtime, court appearances and training. Last month is harder to idealize than the schedule in general, and it shows how far ahead they can plan a weekend.
How does your family feel about the hours and the risk?
Why ask it
Personal, so save it for late in the shift and only if the talk has already turned that way. Missed holidays and a worried partner come with this kind of schedule, and a host who has made it work will often explain how.
What do television and the news get wrong about this job?
Why ask it
Anyone whose job gets dramatized has this answer ready, and it is often about pace: how slow a shift can be, how long one report takes, how little a real call resembles a scene on a screen. Notice whether the correction comes with a laugh or with real irritation.
What has changed most about this job in the years you have done it?
Why ask it
Staffing levels, cameras, the software in the vehicle, what the public expects: something has moved since they started. Whether they think it is getting better or worse matters more to someone choosing a career than how today happens to look.
How is morale here at the moment, and what is driving it?
Why ask it
A vehicle gets you a more candid answer than a recruiting table does. Staffing, leadership, contract talks and public mood all feed it, and a host who pauses before answering has told you something already.
How often do you see a supervisor during a shift?
Why ask it
Some crews go a whole shift without one; others have a supervisor at every significant call. The answer covers three things at once: how much backup there is, how closely the work is checked, and how much freedom comes with it.
Do you usually work alone or with a partner, and which do you prefer?
Why ask it
One officer to a car in some places, two in others, and ambulance or engine crews that stay together for years: it depends where you are. Their preference tells you whether the job you are picturing is a solitary one or a whole shift beside the same person.
Is there a call you are proud of, one you are glad you were sent to?
Why ask it
The kind alternative to asking for the worst thing they have seen. They choose the story, and the harder material comes along with it only if they want it to.
How do you leave this behind at the end of a shift?
Why ask it
Ask gently, and listen for whether there is anything besides the drive home: a workout, a rule about not talking shop at dinner, a colleague they call. If the answer is a shrug, leave it there.
Getting hired
What's the training path from start to finish, if someone wanted to do this?
Why ask it
You want the sequence and the timing: the test, the academy or certification, probation, the points where people wash out. A website lists requirements; the person doing the job knows where people quit.
What trips applicants up in the hiring process here?
Why ask it
Written test, fitness test, interview panel, background check, medical: the stages differ by agency, so ask how it runs at this one. The person beside you got through and has watched others miss, usually on something avoidable.
What would make an applicant stand out to the people who hire here?
Why ask it
Expect unglamorous answers: a clean driving record, steady work history, volunteering, a relevant certificate, honesty on the forms. If you are riding because you plan to apply, this may be the question the whole shift was for.
What was field training or your probation year like?
Why ask it
In many services a new hire spends months beside a senior person who grades each decision. Find out what their trainer was hardest on and when they first felt trusted alone, because that stretch is where a new hire learns whether the job fits.
What can you move into from here, and how long before you can apply?
Why ask it
Investigations, K9, a specialty team, critical care, training, supervision: each service has its own ladder and its own waiting period. What the host is aiming for, and how long they have been waiting, shows how open those doors really are.
Why did you pick this department, and how does it compare with the ones nearby?
Why ask it
People in the job know the local comparisons cold: who pays more, who is short of staff, whose vehicles are newer, who is hiring. Treat any figures as one person's recollection and check them against the posted pay scales before you decide anything.
What kind of person does well here, and who tends not to last?
Why ask it
Ask about the people who left and you get temperament rather than qualifications: the ones who could never sleep in the daytime, the ones who needed to be thanked, the ones who took every bad interaction home. Hold yourself against that list rather than against the job posting.
What do you wish you'd asked before you committed to this?
Why ask it
Their hindsight becomes your checklist. If nothing comes to mind, offer a few to react to: how shifts rotate, how hard it is to transfer, how much of the pay depends on overtime.
If you were starting over today, would you still sign up for this?
Why ask it
A pause is an answer. So is a quick yes with conditions attached: a different agency, an earlier start, a specialty sooner. The conditions are their career advice, compressed.
What can I start on now so I am ready when applications open?
Why ask it
A direct request for homework tends to get a concrete list: a course, a fitness standard, a volunteer or reserve role, a person to call. Write it down once you are out of the vehicle, and tell them in your thank-you note which item you started.
I am applying here. Are you free to talk about the interview, or is that off limits?
Why ask it
Some agencies limit what staff may tell an applicant about the process, and a host should not be pushed into coaching against the rules. Asking first protects you both, and the answer shows you how to word everything that follows.
Does having done a ride along count for anything when this department hires?
Why ask it
Expected of applicants in one place, logged in another, ignored in a third. Find out which it is here, and whether a form or your host's name ought to be on record before you leave.
Which question from your own police interview do you still remember?
Why ask it
Take it as one person's memory of one panel, since formats change and differ between agencies. A question that stuck still shows what the place was testing for: a judgment call, a reason for choosing them, a time the candidate was wrong.
If a panel asks what I learned on this ride, what would be a weak answer?
Why ask it
Candidates who have ridden are sometimes asked exactly that. Your host will have a view on what sounds like an observation and what sounds like a fan talking. Whatever you end up saying, leave out names, addresses and the details of any call.
What should a candidate know about this town and this department before the interview?
Why ask it
Why here and not the agency next door is a fair thing for a panel to ask, and a shift in the car is where a real answer comes from. Build it from what you saw: the districts, the busy hours, what the department is short of. Check anything you plan to quote.
End of shift
Was there anything I did today that a rider should not do?
Why ask it
Hosts seldom volunteer this and are usually glad to be asked. Standing in the wrong spot or talking at the wrong moment is easy to fix once somebody says so, and asking marks you as a rider worth having back.
Can I come back for another shift, on a different day or time?
Why ask it
A weekday morning and a Friday night can look like two different jobs. Programs differ on how often one person may ride, so ask how repeat requests work here and whether you could be placed with a different host.
Who else would give me a different view of this place: a recruiter, a dispatcher, someone newer?
Why ask it
One shift with one host is one perspective, and often a favorable one, since they agreed to take a rider. A first-year hire, a supervisor and the dispatcher on the other end of the radio will each describe the same job differently. Some agencies let visitors sit in the dispatch center too, so ask how that works here.
If I do apply, is there a good way to reach you with questions?
Why ask it
Let them choose the channel, a work email or a message left at the front desk, and do not press for a personal number. A host who says yes has given you someone to ask about the interview or the fitness test when the time comes.
What should I have asked you today that I didn't?
Why ask it
Save it for the end of the shift, once they have stopped explaining and started talking. This is where the advice they would give a family member tends to come out.
How to be a good ride along guest
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you get in the vehicle
Mark a few questions from each part of the list
The list follows the shift. Start of shift is for the minutes before the vehicle moves, On the road and After a call are for while you are out, The job and Getting hired suit the long quiet stretches, and End of shift is for the last ten minutes. Nobody gets through the whole list in one ride, so pick eight or ten you care about and let the calls supply the rest.
Sort the paperwork and the clothes in advance
Expect a waiver, often a background check, and usually a dress standard: closed shoes, no logos, nothing you would mind losing. Requirements differ from one agency to the next, so ask when you book, not on the morning.
Bring water, food and a notebook, and little else
You may not get a scheduled break, and there is rarely space for a bag. A bottle, something to eat, a small notebook. Leave the rest in your car.
Ask about your phone before the shift starts
A photo, a recording or a post from the vehicle can put someone's worst day online and get a rider sent home. Confirm what is allowed at the start and then keep the phone away, even during the quiet hours.
When a police ride along comes before an interview
Some departments ask applicants to ride before the oral board and others only notice who did, so ask how it works where you are applying. Tell your host at the start that you are a candidate, and treat the shift as part of the process: on time, dressed to the standard, phone away. The closing questions under Getting hired are written for this.
When to ask, when to stay quiet
- Ask questions in the dead time between jobs. That is most of the shift, and it is when they can actually think about an answer.
- When a call comes in, stop talking mid-sentence. Nobody will mind, and they will remember that you did.
- Once something is over, ask what you missed rather than what happened. You saw the events; what you could not see is what they were deciding.
- Keep the notebook closed at a scene. A visitor writing while someone is having a bad day makes everyone uneasy, so jot things down back in the vehicle or after the shift.
- If the shift is quiet, do not apologize or ask whether it is always this slow. Waiting is the job, and asking what they do with the waiting is a better question.
What guests get wrong
Asking for the worst thing they have ever seen
Hosts hear it from nearly every rider, and many of them dislike it. If they want to tell you about a hard call, they will bring it up themselves. Ask about the routine instead and the difficult material arrives on their terms.
Offering your opinion on how the job should be done
You are there for one shift. Commentary on tactics, policy, or the people they deal with reads as judgment from someone who has no exposure to the consequences. Ask a question where you were about to make a statement.
Talking to the people they are serving
Patients, customers and the public did not agree to your presence. Stay back and let the professional manage the interaction. If someone speaks to you directly, give the one line you agreed with your host at the start of the shift and nothing more.
After the shift
Write to the person, not just the office
A short note the next day naming one thing that surprised you is worth more than a formal thank you to the department. That person chose to spend a shift explaining their work to a stranger.
Get a second shift with someone different
The clearest signal comes from comparing two people at different stages: someone in their first two years and someone with a decade in. If they describe entirely different jobs, the newer one is closer to the job you would start in.
Write down what you felt, not just what you learned
Boredom, adrenaline, discomfort at a particular moment. Those reactions are what a ride along gives you that a handbook cannot, and they fade sooner than the facts, which you can always look up again.