A ride-along is an arrangement for a civilian to spend a shift in the passenger seat of an emergency vehicle, observing the work day of a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, or security.
[1] The TV series Top Cops, which aired 1990–1993, once told the true story of the 8-year-old son of a police officer whose father took him on a ride-along after obtaining an exemption to the department's policy in which the minimum to apply was 14.
During the shift, the officer was called to a bank robbery, in which the robber claimed to be armed with a live-wire bomb, and demanded the tellers take him to the vault.
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that allowing journalists or photographers to enter and film private homes during a ride-along is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The 2014 film Ride Along focuses on a security guard (Kevin Hart) going on a ride-along with a police officer (Ice Cube) whose sister he wants to marry.
[citation needed] In 9-1-1 episode titled "Awful People", Maddie Kendall, a 911 dispatcher, goes on a ride-along with LAPD Sergeant Athena Grant as part of her training.
In the episode named "The Ride Along" of the 2018 TV series The Rookie, a Hollywood director goes on a ride-along with LAPD officers John Nolan and Talia Bishop to research for his new film.