A Day in the Life of an Officer

My cousin came to ride a long with me one day. He was thinking about becoming a police officer. The day became one of those days. To begin with, we went to assist troopers with traffic control for a semi-truck broke down in the canyon. When we cleared and patrolled the freeway, we saw two motorcycles stopped just north of the I-70/I-15 junction. As we passed, they turned and went south in the northbound lanes, and turned onto I-70 (eastbound). I turned around to catch them. We never saw the motorcycles but called ahead to Richfield and advised them of what happened. I later learned officers stopped the motorcycles and arrested the occupants.

After returning to Beaver County, we stopped a vehicle northbound on I-15 near I-70.  The single male occupant ended up having drugs in his vehicle. I arrested him and booked him into the Beaver County Jail.

After patrolling for several more hours and writing several tickets, we headed south to Kanarraville (which is south of Cedar City).  Kanarraville had an outdoor concert/dance which allowed alcohol. We acted as security and patrolled the area after the concert/dance.  After the dance, we arrested an individual for DUI. The person arrested called a friend to pick up his vehicle. When the friend arrived, we arrested him for DUI. He had been at the dance and had made it home, but returned to help his buddy!!

While in the Kanarraville area, our dispatch center advised of a reckless driver. Several troopers tried to locate the vehicle but were unable. My cousin and I, after leaving the jail in Cedar City, received a report of an accident south of Beaver. I knew there was a construction zone in the area. One side of the freeway was closed, and traffic was on the northbound lanes with only orange barrels separating it. It was raining hard in the area. It was about 2 am. We ran Code 3 (lights and sirens) towards the accident. One thing I had learned, if dispatch does not receive updates about an accident, it is bad. As we approached, I knew I would need my cousin to help me. I told him what to do once we arrived at the scene. I could tell he wasn't sure he should help, but I assured him he could help.

We arrived, I saw a minivan facing southbound on the roadway with the entire front end destroyed. The other was off the east side of the freeway. I ran over to the minivan and realized the driver (and only passenger) was dead.  I yelled at my cousin, who was by my patrol vehicle, and told him to pick up the radio and tell dispatch "We have one 10-85 Echo!" He questioned me, and I told him to just do it.  I'm not sure what dispatch thought when they heard his traffic but he relayed the message. I went to the other vehicle and realized the driver of that vehicle (and only passenger) had also died in the accident. Another trooper, who had been in Kanarraville with us, arrived a short time later. The other trooper, after seeing both vehicles, told me one vehicle was the same one dispatch has broadcast as the reckless driver. Our investigation showed that vehicle had crossed through the construction barrels and hit the minivan head on. We determined it was due to extreme fatigue. We took several hours to investigate the accident and clean up the scene. We finished the shift and drove home.

My cousin, who is from Richfield, told me he was just going to drive home (it was now between 4 and 5 am). I told him to sleep on my couch and drive home in the morning. We were both dead tired. He told me he was ok to drive home. I told him one of the drivers thought the same thing. He slept on my couch. We talked for a few minutes about the shift and about being a police officer. I told him that our shift did not happen every shift, but the incidents were common to handle as an officer. If he didn't want to deal with any of those things, then don’t become an officer. He is not a police officer.

Every time I spoke with my cousin after that night, he talked about the fatal traffic accident.  Even today, he will bring it up. I learned the accident was the big reason he chose not to be an officer. He told me that night was something he hoped he never saw again.

To let you know how it affected me, the driver of the minivan was of oriental descent. For weeks, every time I saw someone of the same descent, I got sick. In fact, I was eating lunch at a fast-food restaurant when an oriental man walked into the restaurant. I didn’t know the person, but I walked out. My wife asked me what was wrong. I told her I saw the individual in the minivan and he could’ve been a loved one of the person in the restaurant.

I have never regretted being a police officer, but it takes a toll on you after seeing and dealing with the incidents we handle. You learn to deal with it but it never gets easy.