In an effort to better connect with the community, the Chattanooga Police Department has announced a new program to allow citizens to virtually ride along with a police officer on duty.
In an announcement on Wednesday, police Chief David Roddy said the new program will allow people to sign up to virtually be in the car with an officer for a half hour, or up to an hour. The citizen can learn about what’s going on in the neighborhood and get a first-hand look at what it’s like to be in a police vehicle during a call – or just have a conversation with an officer.
Roddy added that having a virtual component to the ride-along program offers access that some might get in person, whether someone has anxiety about being in a police car or is physically unable to do so or faces other barriers.
Roddy said the idea was brought to the table by Officer Sydney Hamon, then a rookie officer, in 2019. Hamon said she had the idea during the pandemic.
“Once protests started, no one wanted to talk to police,” Hamon said. “So when I saw that, I kept trying to figure out a way to engage with the community. Then I saw that everybody ran to social media to talk about what was going on and everyone was talking at each other, but nobody was talking with each other, no one was speaking with each other or really listening.”