Ride Along Program

The University of Maryland Police Department offers members of the UMD community, including current or prospective students, staff, or faculty, active UMPD job applicants and family members of UMPD employees, an opportunity to ride along with a police officer. A ride along provides a firsthand experience of how the department works, how officers respond to incidents, and how we interact with the community. We encourage all members of our community to participate in this opportunity.

Application Process

Interested applicants must fill out and submit a Ride Along Application and the Ride Along Consent and Release Form. This must be done at least five business days before the requested date for the ride along. Completing the application does not guarantee that the ride along will be approved.

The Ride Along Coordinator may ask you to provide multiple dates and times when you are available to participate in order to facilitate scheduling. A ride along will last for no more than two hours. When deciding when to start the ride along, please keep the following in mind:

For a ride along during the day shift, select a start time between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
For a ride along during the evening shift, select a start time between 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
For a ride along during the midnight shift, select a start time between 11:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.

The Ride Along Program Coordinator will review all applications and perform a background check. Upon approval, the Ride Along Coordinator will notify the applicant and finalize the appointment. Applicants will be required to sign a printed copy of the release on the day of participation (sign only when an officer is present). Applicants may participate in the Ride Along Program only once per semester (three times per calendar year).

Questions

For questions about the Ride Along Program, please contact Lt. Shannon at 301-405-2451 or CShannon@umpd.umd.edu.