Trying to come up with an idea for a way to kill a few hours on a weekend. Does anyone have experience with these? Are they interesting at all?
I’m presuming you’d have to go through some kind of background check (which I have no problem with), but do you have to have some justifiable reason for calling the local PD up and requesting this (i.e. you have an interest in it as a career, you have a 5-year-old kid who would be fascinated by it, etc)?
Yes, and it was interesting. Neighborhood watch? Community group? No kids are allowed.
I did this as a part of training as a dispatcher, so it was a little different I’m sure, but more or less you’re just observing either way. It was very interesting. I had to log a certain number of hours.
Now, I was doing this for more than a few hours on one day so I got to see a bigger mix. I will say that I did have one genuinely frightening moment when we got called in as backup on a domestic (which I already knew from training was statistically one of the most dangerous calls for officers). We sped there with lights and sirens, which already was scary; I have never been in a car driving like that before or since. When we got there, there was this dude just absolutely losing his shit freaking out angry, and about 3 other squad cars. Now the cop I was with that time was a pretty serious guy and he turns to me and says “Stay here. I’m locking the door. The shotgun is right there.” Now in hindsight I think he meant more like “I’m locking the door for your safety and because there is a shotgun in here,” not what I thought at the time for sure meant “This situation is really bad and you had better be ready to grab that shotgun.” 
The officers managed to calm the guy down though, and it was all right.
Anyway, most of the time was just traffic stops and responding to ADT alarms, which was pretty unexciting after awhile, but all in all it was a pretty neat experience. Cops also tell really good stories and a lot of them like to entertain. Keep in mind that a lot of their job is administrative paperwork and stuff, and their car is like their office. It can be lonely and a lot of cops get into the job because they’re socially oriented. I find a lot of them were jokesters and entertainers by nature.
Around here, they do a lot of “citzen’s academy” type things in various cities which are intended to not just have you do the ride-along (though that is part of it) but also to learn more about law enforcement. If I hadn’t already worked in law enforcement, I’d totally do it. It looks interesting. If your community doesn’t have anything like that, check your city’s website for any info. Don’t hesitate to call and ask, either – just make sure it’s during office hours and, if possible, to the administrative number (or at least a non-emergency line). I can’t speak for everywhere, but most PDs make public relations a priority, and it’s not an uncommon request.
Also: generally you can only bring one civilian along because you’re not supposed to put people who aren’t in custody in the back. The doors don’t open from the inside, of course, and it’s generally some kind of liability thing.
Something like that. But they didn’t call it a ride along 
One thing though that I’ll note is – don’t walk away from your experience thinking “this is how cops are”. I rode along with officers in 3 different cities (who pooled dispatching resources). Policies and department goals differ a lot.
Once city was very traffic-ticket-oriented and the guys tended to reflect that; they got a thrill out of catching the big speeders and writing tickets. In another, smaller city that was a bit less ticket-revenue-oriented (having little interstate traffic, in particular), I distinctly remember the officer rooting for motorists to avoid tickets – “come on buddy, slow down or I’ll have to pull you over”, “man, don’t try running that red, don’t try it”, low-volume personal narrative that you could tell was habitual. He wasn’t lazy either, he was a very straightlaced and honest kind of guy.
It was definitely cool, too, to get some old guard guys who’d been on the beat for a long time, as well as younger guys who were still really excited about everything. One cop had a tape recorder in his pocket recording at all times during stops, and used to replay choice things that people would say (mostly insults, swearing, whatever). Now, he was just an easygoing guy, and a lot of cops just wouldn’t put up with this kind of shit – I remember one where you could literally hear the tires squealing as this chick tore off after getting a ticket that I was amazed he didn’t go after her for – but he pretty much shrugged it off and said “I’d be ticked off too if I had to pay a big fine” or “well, being an asshole isn’t illegal”. He was a cool guy.
My brother did one, and he got bitten by a dog.
When I lived in Austin in the 1970s, I used to ride with APD all the time. It’s actually what sparked my career in law enforcement.