The girl in question went into perhaps a little more detail than was needed for the interview, insisting her sister was on a form of birth control that meant she was definitely not going to get pregnant (again). Justin asked if she meant celibacy. Policemen do have a sense of humour; all my energy at that moment had to be channelled into remaining professional.
Arriving back at the police station it would have been easy to assume we'd returned to a zoo.
Under the influence of some substance a man was hauled from the back of a police van after smashing the back windscreen of a police car, with his head. He was promptly marched into a cell, and decided to release his inner monkey, crow, and various other animal noises. Once in the cell he was quick to tell the police they were lucky there was a door between them. I don't think lucky would be how I would describe his situation, or how he would feel the next morning.
The second callout was not one humour could be found in. A stepfather had hit his stepdaughter.
Once again, alcohol was involved.
While the situation in the lead-up to the incident was somewhat unclear to me, the girl was left with obvious signs of a fist meeting a cheek. It quickly became apparent that police deal with more than people realise, and their ability to simply ask the questions and do their job must be commended.
I quickly realised after these two callouts what Justin had meant when he said I would see a different side of Hamilton.
Our final call out was to a mother whose partner, or perhaps ex, had taken their child for the night. I have not seen emotion stronger than a mother desperate for her child. Though in this instance it was sworn there was no alcohol involved, it was difficult to not feel for someone in that situation. I was glad I was not the one who had to make the call on what would be done; nothing for that night. The child was safe and no laws were broken. The police were limited by those facts.
While the number of intoxicated people in the CBD that evening through to the early hours of the next morning was small, I could not stifle a laugh at what happened as we stopped at McDonalds drive-through for a burger (though most food consumed over the evening was surprisingly healthy).
While waiting for the order, a disgruntled taxi driver came over to ask for help in getting an intoxicated young man to pay the charge. Apparently the girls he was with had wanted the taxi but the man hadn't wanted to pay.
The matter was quickly resolved with the appearance of the officer on the scene.
Justin was surprised that Brian was back so quickly and asked if he'd sorted it. "Yeah, I just used my grumpy voice. All sorted."
Behind closed doors has taken on a very realistic meaning for me now, because I did not understand the impact alcohol has on other people's lives, the problems it causes that most people never see.