That would be an interesting ride for sure, David. I'm sure I have no idea what a day in the life of a cop is like. I'm kind of suspecting that day varies wildly with whatever department or duties an officer is assigned, however. A day spent downtown in a patrol car must be far different than a day in a highway patrol car at a radar speed trap. Unfortunately the latter are the ones most of us get to meet. Most of us never break anything other than a traffic law, so that is our only exposure to police. Even you must admit that enforcement varies tremendously with the cop and the situation. I think that is where a lot of the frustration and resentment lies. The real trial on traffic matters very much happens right there at the side of the road.
Another aspect of the "ride along" that must be considered is the simple fact that the cop is being watched. He is going to be on his best behavior, acting like the guys on Adam 12 or something. What really matters is how he behaves when it is down to just him and the suspect, his word against the suspect's, on how things went down. Of course a ride along will never see any questionable behavior.
I have been harrassed by police in the past. It is a very helpless feeling, knowing that no matter what you say or do you lose. While I still have a great deal of respect for the profession, I have met too many individual officers that do not deserve my respect. The "come along and see for yourself" invitation is a somewhat clever ruse, in my opinion, to try to generate some positive
PR. The best way to do that is to treat citizens with respect one on one, when no one is watching. Until all cops under all conditions can do that, no number of ride alongs will change people's minds. Too many of us have had bad experiences.