To prepare for his role as a police officer in the tense thriller  "The Call, " actor Morris Chestnut stepped behind the blue line.

"I did a few ride-alongs with the LAPD, " said Chestnut,  whose movie  stars Halle Berry as a police dispatcher trying to help solve an  abduction,  and Abigail Breslin as the crime victim. "I have a new  respect. I can definitely see what it's like to be a police  officer. It's not easy."

In a weird and unhappy stroke of serendipity,  Chestnut was in  Atlanta to promote the movie the same week rogue former Los Angeles  police officer Christopher Dorner ended his murderous rampage by  killing himself.

"These police officers were doing nothing,  and he just shot them, "  Chestnut said,  referring to two officers Dorner ambushed and shot,   one fatally,  after slaying two other people.

Dorner died Feb. 12 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a  manhunt that included a shootout with law enforcement in a  California mountain town.

The case gripped the nation,  and Chestnut watched news coverage  with grim empathy.

"As a teenager,  I was like,  oh forget the police, " he said. "Now I  definitely get it.

"It's one thing to be in the community and see a police car, " he  said. "It's another thing to be in that police car and not know  whether people have animosity toward you. Each and every time they  walk up on a car,  they could be at risk."

 "The Call" hits theaters March 15.

  "It's a great psychological thriller, " Chestnut said. "It does kind  of make you jump.

  "Abductions,  kidnappings happen all the time. I don't think it's  too far from reality, " he said.

 Chestnut's long list of film credits include roles in "Identity  Thief, " which was filmed in Atlanta and is in theaters now,  and  "Think Like a Man, " the ensemble comedy based on the dating how-to  penned by Atlanta's Steve Harvey. "The Call" felt like a new challenge,  he said.

"I had never done a thriller like this before, " said Chestnut,   who's also appeared in "Not Easily Broken, " "The Game Plan" and  "Ladder 49." "It was an opportunity to be involved in a movie where  I can take myself out of it and feel that intense feeling of  suspense."