Working in Fillmore was interesting. There were 4 troopers plus a Sergeant assigned to Millard County. Most of the time, I was on duty by myself unless the trooper in Delta was on duty, and that was on day shift. Millard County has 60 miles of Interstate and over 100 miles of 2 lane state roads. Often I was 15 to 30 minutes from Fillmore when patrolling the interstate and hours away depending on where I was on the 2 lane roads. I remember going to accidents west of Delta. I would run lights and sirens to Delta, stop at the gas station and fill up with gas, and then continue to the accident. Often I would hope I could make it back without running out of gas. We joked there should be a “same day” rule for responding out west.
Being by yourself while making traffic stops and investigating other calls can become routine but danger can happen at any moment. Because backup can be so far away, I learned how to treat people to keep myself safe and adopted practices that would keep me safe.
Most people, and myself when I first worked for the UHP, think troopers write tickets and investigate traffic accidents. I found writing tickets was fine, but making criminal arrests was more fulfilling. To make criminal arrests, I stopped cars and paid attention to “indicators” of criminal activity. This lead to many criminal arrests with most being drug arrests. Making arrests meant going to court. One court experience caused me to make an important decision regarding the officer I would become.
One of my early drug arrests ended up in court. My first appearance was for a suppression hearing. In the hearing, I give testimony related to how the incident leading to legal arguments to determine what testimony is accepted. I was inexperienced with testifying in court, and got raked over the coals by the defense attorney. I left the courtroom feeling defeated and at that moment, I had to decide if I would take the easy road or “suck it up” and learn and grow as an officer. I could just write speeding tickets and investigate accidents, or I could learn how to build cases and testify in court. I decided I was going to “suck it up”! I then found my passion for arresting criminals and making sure the cases were strong. This decision laid the foundation for the rest of my career.
Another learning experience I had because of working often by myself was to trust my instincts and that “inner voice” that warned me! I decided that no arrests was worth not coming home to my wife and family and that if my instincts or “inner voice” gave me a warning, I would listen to it, regardless. One instance where this occurred is when I stopped 3 vehicles for a traffic offense who were all travelling together. Each vehicle has several individuals including males and females and I talked to each driver and got the normal information from each. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I was planning on issuing citations. As I started back towards my vehicle, I heard a distinct voice say “It’s not worth it!” I walked a few more steps and heard the voice again say, “It’s not worth it!” I turned around, handed back their information and told them to have a nice day. I went back to my vehicle, the cars left, and I continued patrolling Millard County. To this day I do not understand why I heard the voice but I believe that listening to it protected me and is the reason I am writing this blog and enjoying my wife Nicole and my four beautiful daughters!!
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