A Day in the Life of a Police Officer
Adapted by Mary Bowman-Kruhm; based on the book A Day in the Life of a Police Officer (Rosen/PowerKids Press)
Characters: Narrator, Officer Jerry Morales, Bruno, Police Chief, Police Officers (any number), Dispatcher, Student
Narrator: The job of the police is to enforce our laws, protect us, and try to prevent crime. Jerry Morales is a police officer. Like most police officers, he has a partner who works with him. Unlike most police officers, Officer Morales does not have a person for his partner. He has a big German shepherd dog named Bruno.
Officer Morales: Time to get up and take a walk, Bruno. Let’s go or we’ll be late for roll call.
Police Chief: I’m glad to say that we didn’t have any big problems in Frederick last night. Here are your orders for today.
Police Officers: OK, let’s go. Time to get out on patrol. Let’s move out.
Narrator: Before they go on patrol, Officer Morales checks his car to be sure it is clean, both inside and out.
Officer Morales: Jump in your cage, Bruno. You can ride in the front seat later today. Good dog!
Bruno: Woof!
Narrator: Bruno does what Officer Morales tells him to do. He looks for lost keys, finds drugs, chases people who run from the police, and searches buildings. Suddenly a voice comes over the police radio in Officer Morales’s car.
Dispatcher: Officer Morales, someone has reported that a bike shop on West Patrick Street has an open door. Check it out right away.
Officer Morales: Uh, oh, Bruno. Time to get to work.
Narrator: Officer Morales drives to the store.
Officer Morales: Go, Bruno.
Narrator: Bruno jumps out of the car and runs through the door. Officer Morales stands by, ready for trouble. He hopes Bruno will not get hurt if anyone is inside.
Officer Morales: Good dog, Bruno. I like to see you come out wagging your tail. That means no one has broken into the store. Now to call the dispatcher.
Bruno: Woof!
Narrator: Officer Morales gets back on the radio.
Officer Morales: Everything is ok inside the store. Call the store’s owners to let them know the door is open.
Narrator: Bruno and Officer Morales get into the car and go back on patrol. Later, Officer Morales will write a report that says they checked the store.
Dispatcher: All cars in the area, go to West Patrick and Hoke Place. There is a fight.
Narrator: Police officers who get there first try to break up the fight.
Police Officers: Let’s break it up. Move on. Move on. Everyone go home.
Narrator: The people do not move on. Some of them want to fight. Others want to watch. Officer Morales and Bruno drive up.
Officer Morales: Go, Bruno.
Narrator: Bruno slowly walks through the crowd of people.
Bruno: Grr-rrr. Grrrr-rr.
Narrator: The crowd breaks up. They forget about the fight. Other police officers move the crowd along.
Officer Morales: Sometimes Bruno does a better job than a police officer could.
Dispatcher: There is a car wreck on Park Street at Wood Road. Go there right away, Officer Morales.
Narrator: Officer Morales and Bruno drive to the wreck with the siren on and the lights flashing. Officer Morales takes pictures while the medics help the people who are hurt.
Officer Morales: Did you see the wreck? What happened? I need to know all the facts.
Narrator: Bruno guards the car while Officer Morales talks to people about what happened to cause the wreck, but he gets tired of waiting and wants to play. Bruno turns on the car lights with his paws. Suddenly Officer Morales sees red and blue lights flashing. He runs back to the car.
Officer Morales: Bruno, you know you should not play with those lights! Bad dog.
Bruno: Woof!
Narrator: Sometimes Officer Morales takes Bruno to visit a school with him.
Officer Morales: Students, today I’m going to talk to you about three things: Obey the law, say no to drugs and play safely. Then Bruno and I will show you how we work as a team.
Bruno: Woof!
Student: Did you go to school to learn how to be a police officer?
Officer Morales: Yes, I did. I still go to school. Twice a month I go to classes that help me be a good officer. And I have to pass tests too. But I love being a police officer. I like to help people and I love working with Bruno.
Bruno: Woof! Woof!