A Night in the Life of a Sturgeon Bay Police Officer

Officer Steve Meisner, who decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a police officer, has been with the Sturgeon Bay department for five years. Photo by Matt Ledger.

During a recent meeting with Sturgeon Bay Police Chief Arleigh Porter, he recommended that, to really see what his department does, I go on a ride-along with one of his officers.

And so it was that, around 8 pm on Saturday, July 14, I pulled into the parking lot at Sturgeon Bay City Hall to meet Officer Steve Meisner, who was kind enough to act as my chauffer and tour guide during the last half of his patrol.

What follows is a brief account of our evening, laid out in roughly chronological order.

7:57 pm – After I make sure that my car is fully parked in its own parking space (because I really don’t want to start my evening by doing something illegal), I get out and introduce myself to Officer Meisner. We then hop into his squad car, and he gives me a brief overview of everything it’s outfitted with.

There are cameras, radios, a rifle, radar, a ticket/notification printer that’s mounted inside the passenger headrest, and teddy bears and baseball cards that Officer Meisner says are helpful when children are at a scene.

But the real star of the car is the laptop computer that’s sitting in the middle of it, mounted on a platform that extends from the steering column. The computer lets Officer Meisner, who is tonight’s shift supervisor, know which officers are doing what, what reports have been filed for the evening, send instant messages to other officers, and connect to an information database that contains an almost scary amount of knowledge.

As we roll out, Officer Meisner tells me that he wears a lot of hats in the department. He’s been on the force for about five years, and he currently works on the city’s S.O.T. team (which is like a mini-S.W.A.T. team), the marine unit, the honor guard, and as a field officer trainer. After deciding that architectural studies weren’t for him, Officer Meisner decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a police officer.

As we’re talking about these things, a call comes in. Our lights go on, and we start to drive a little faster.

8:16 pm – We respond to the call, a 1016 on Florida Street. Officer Meisner tells me that a 1016 is a domestic dispute, and that since domestics are some of the most dangerous calls officers respond to, I’ll have to wait in the car.

As we pull up, Officer Meisner kills the lights and parks on the wrong side of the road behind a bunch of other cars. Both actions are tactical moves to ensure that the people inside don’t see him coming.

The call turns out to be not only non-violent, but really a non-issue. A man, who was fairly drunk, called the police because his wife was “holding him hostage.” Really, she had locked him in so that he wouldn’t wander outside by himself, and he couldn’t get the door open.

As Officer Meisner and Officer Michelle Wiegand, who has also responded to the call, talk the man down, Officer Meisner motions for me to come out of the car. He introduces me to the man as the department’s new drug officer, and we all wait together for the man’s friend to come and pick him up, so that he can sleep it off somewhere else.

The laptop in Officer Steve Meisner’s patrol car serves as command central when he is out on duty, letting him know what other officers are up to as well as providing a wealth of information. Photo by Matt Ledger.

8:44 pm – Officer Meisner and I are on our way to see if we can go catch some speeders when we get another call, a possible conceal-carry violation at a local hotel.

There’re some members of a wedding party outside as we pull up, wondering what exactly is going on. Officer Wiegand has beat us to the scene on this call and is already inside.

It turns out that the man in question does not have a firearm on him, just a knife that he agrees to store on his bike outside.  On his way out, Officer Meisner jokes with the wedding party, telling them that he’s there to arrest the bride.

“Sometimes you just make things worse by telling people stuff,” says Officer Meisner, back in the car.

9:26 pm – After coming up empty at a couple of Officer Meisner’s favorite haunts for catching speeders (he normally gets people at 15 over or above), we roll over to check on a woman who has been evading arrest on a parole violation. We don’t have any luck there either, so we begin to cruise around on Officer Meisner’s regular patrol.

“I like to hit each street in the city at least once each patrol,” says Officer Meisner. “Everyone’s paying for our protection, so everyone should get it.”

We pass a few people and vehicles that Officer Meisner deals with frequently, and we continue to chat about the department and how awful cop shows are. Then, without breaking our conversation at all, Officer Meisner increases our speed, turns around on Highway 42/57, and flips the lights on. We’ve caught a speeder.

10:00 pm – The car we pull over is a blue Toyota with Illinois plates. Officer Meisner steps out to deal with the driver, and I’m left in the car, listening to officers from the county talk over the radio about a woman who’s apparently wrecking house at a bar in Gardner.

Officer Meisner comes back to the car to run the man’s information, and we have a good laugh because the man is driving his girlfriend’s car, which has eyelashes mounted on the headlights. Officer Meisner says that the man looks tired, and that he seems to have learned his lesson. He’s going to let him off with a warning.

As Officer Meisner gets back in the car and we prepare to head to the station for the nickel tour, the county requests aid with a call on County Highway DK. Between the woman in Gardner and a couple other calls up north, all their squads are tied up.

Officer Meisner buckles up, and we head south.

10:17 pm – The woman pulled over is out of gas, but dispatch says that she may or may not be drunk as well. Officer Meisner talks to her and can’t tell for sure whether she is or is not drunk. As he runs her info in the car, another motorist stops and brings out a can of gasoline, ready to fill up the car.

The woman prepares to drive away, but Officer Meisner flips the siren once to let her know she should stay. He checks her eyes with the roving flashlight test, and she appears to be fine.

“It really is hard to tell sometimes,” says Officer Meisner. “Sure, she was acting a little weird, but sometimes that’s just how people are. Or they could just be tired.”

11:00 pm – After giving me a tour of the station, Officer Meisner prepares to head for home. He still has at least six reports that he needs to go over tonight, but he says that he can do that from home while he watches 21 Jump Street. I wish him a good evening and hop into my car, bringing my tour of duty as the city’s new drug officer to an end.