IN THE PIPELINE:

Last week I wrote Part I of my nighttime ride-along with Officer Mike Kelly of the Huntington Beach Police Department. As I said, I wanted to see firsthand what officers experience in our city on a typical night, but as was pointed out to me by Kelly and several others, there’s no such thing as a “typical” night — you just never know what’s going to present itself.

The hours I spent riding shotgun into the twilight hours with Officer Kelly had a little bit of everything from the mundane to matters more tense and unknown, but through it all, Kelly never shifted his mood or tone — he was calm, measured and ready for anything. His everyman approach to what he does almost makes you forget the dangers that lurk in the shadows of Surf City.

Stopping in a shopping center parking lot off Warner at midnight to quickly have a bite gives him a few minutes to analyze what he does. Over a granola bar, a healthy protein shake and a container of peaches, Kelly holds court, his face illuminated only by the blue glow of the in-car computer screen.

“When I pull someone over or have any other contact with anyone in the public, I’m real careful,” the 26-year veteran says. “I can either make a friend or an enemy, and I’d much rather make a friend. This might be the only interaction someone ever has with a cop, so I want to make sure they go away with a good feeling. If they get mad at me, I’ll never take it personally; that just goes with the job.”

He brings a lot of big city smarts and charisma to this city and there’s something that has him concerned.

“In years to come,” he says between granola bars, “A lot of emergency service workers are going to find it hard to afford to live where they work, in Huntington Beach. If the commutes are too far, they may just take that job out in Riverside or someplace. Getting the best people for the jobs may become a problem here and that scares me.”

The point seems more than valid.

We’ve already been by a Huntington Harbour residence where an elderly man had passed away from natural causes and also to a home to investigate a BMW reported stolen. Things get a bit dicier when Kelly reads on his computer screen about an incident in progress at Huntington Beach Hospital, where an emergency room patient, brought in for public drunkenness, has supposedly yanked the IV from his arm and is attempting an aggressive escape. We’re on our way.

On this night, there are perhaps 36 officers on duty throughout the city, and several others are en route to the hospital. As I watch Officer Kelly input information into the computer as he drives, I comment about the amount of work they have to do while they travel to a crime scene. “We have lots of guidelines and procedures,” he says, laughing. “But the bad guys have no guidelines, we have to deal with whatever they throw at us.”

Upon a backdoor arrival at the emergency room, we meet several other officers who have helped secure the situation. The drunken 20-something man, bloodied from ripping IVs from his arms, is back in bed and a hospital staff member is describing what happened to another officer. It’s not unusual for officers to cross paths with each other each night, canvassing the city and waiting for the next emergency. In this case, trouble was avoided and a few of the cops spent the free moments getting each other up to speed on other calls and potential situations.

They also joke a bit, and their camaraderie is evident. Kelly points out that this is yet another example of how much drugs and alcohol dictate how their time is spent. As we leave, the mother of the man arrested for drunkenness arrives. She does not seem shocked to see her son in this condition, so it’s business as usual for everyone, cops included.

Back in the car, a call comes in to investigate a house near Central Park that has been rapid-dialing 911 calls. Kelly drives over, all the while monitoring other events on screen that may need his attention soon. “Pretty quiet tonight,” he says. “Now that everyone is back in school.”

At the house in question, the man who answers the door apologizes. Seems his fax machine may be the culprit. Kelly is understanding but admonishes the guy to get it fixed.

“Two things a police officer needs from the public,” Kelly says once we get back in the car. “Compliance and information. That’s it.”

Then a call comes regarding a loud house party in the vicinity of Beach Boulevard near Talbert Avenue. We get there quick but hear nothing. Suddenly, a loud, expletive-riddled shouting match erupts from a second-story apartment. Kelly calls for back-up and while we wait, he shines his light in the apartment window. It works to quell the noise — and now his presence is known. When another officer arrives, one we had seen at the hospital, we make an approach into the apartment. It is tense, but within a few moments the officers have the two culprits seated outside before they move in to question a couple of other roommates. Both officers diffuse the situation, which once again is alcohol-fueled.

And so it goes for the men and women of the HBPD — each day and night spent chasing trouble, never knowing what fate may produce. Kelly brings me back to my car and as I pull away, I see him talking to homeless women, asking what he can do to help her. I’ll be asleep soon, but he’ll still be out here, doing what he does — and doing it with exceptional grace and guts. That, after all, is department policy.

I’m working on a new book called “Huntington Beach Then & Now,” which will match historic photos with same-angle-contemporary shots that I’m taking. I’d like to include some families that grew up in Huntington Beach so if you have a family photo in front of your house (or other local landmark) and the shot is more than about 20 to 25 years old, I’d love to see it. If it makes it into the book we’ll get together to re-shoot the image today at the same site. You’ll be forever immortalized in a book, and you’ll get a free, signed copy once it’s out. If you’re interested, e-mail me at [email protected].