Riding along with IUPD

“Thirty-six, 26.”

The radio buzzed as IU Police Department officer Hilary Aydt was called. There was a traffic accident by the stadium, but she was on the opposite side of campus.

On April 23, Aydt was the utility officer, meaning she patrolled all areas of campus instead of one specific area, and she allowed the Indiana Daily Student to ride along to show what it is like to be a police officer at the start of Little 500 weekend.

“The nice thing about having a utility officer is when you have something you need two people for, then I’ll go and help the district officer,” Aydt said.

IUPD usually has four district officers patrolling, one in each district. The districts are divided by 10th Street and Jordan Avenue. If IUPD has enough officers working, they will have a utility officer.

While on patrol, Aydt looks for anything unusual and responds to calls on her radio.

It varies from day to day how many calls she receives, but she said it’s usually more eventful during Little 500 weekend.

“You get to see some interesting things, especially during Little Five,” she said.

She said officers will see people falling down or passing out in the street during the weekend of the bicycle races.

Two radios in addition to IUPD’s are in the center counsel of the squad car: one for the Bloomington Police Department and one for Bloomington Hospital.

“You have to listen to your radio at all times,” she said.

Besides listening to three different radios, Aydt also listens to the sounds outside the squad car by keeping the windows cracked. This also helps her smell things better, she said.

But Aydt can’t pursue everything she sees while on the force.

After a car ran a red light, she wanted to stop the car, but because she was the only officer patrolling campus because of a traffic accident, she couldn’t, she said.

“You have to know where your co-workers are,” she said.

She said she also has to think about the safety of people around her.

“You really have to watch out for students,” she said. “You have to kind of measure things out.”

Aydt has worked at IUPD since summer 2007 and said she enjoys her job – even if it has its downfalls.

“It can be stressful, but a lot of it depends on how you take things,” she said.

She admitted being an officer isn’t a normal nine-to-five job and can make it hard to have a family, but she said it’s worth it to her.

“The things I don’t like about it are the same things I like about it,” she said. “It’s a lot more interesting to be able to drive around.”

She has seen people vomit, urinate and bleed all over the backseats of cop cars.

She said she doesn’t take things personally because people have a strong opinion about cops.

“It’s not like people are going to be giving you high fives all the time,” she said.