Do you like cars? Are you equipped with an heightened sense of awareness? Can you multi task? Do you meet people well? Do you love to solve puzzles? Are you an adrenaline junky? Is making a difference important to you? Can you recall details with clarity? Do you enjoy techy things? Can you manage confrontation? Can you manage sympathy, empathy and flint hardness on demand depending on circumstances?
If the answer is yes, I have just the job for you. Become a state trooper and begin a career on the road enforcing not only your states traffic laws but the criminal code. You can go home after each shift knowing you have made a difference and improved the human condition. Almost all police careers begin with traffic enforcement to some degree with State Troopers majoring in it. Your career is likely to end where it began, 24” off the road and 30” behind a windshield. In all honesty, I loved every minute of it until my focus shifted from police work to management with a rewarding interim of direct supervision of superb traffic officers. Like all uniformed services, the internal and external politics that accompany a position of authority will test your will.
Your shifts begin with the heightened sense of awareness and anticipation of what is to come. The sound of the engine in a police cruiser coming to life is exciting.when you turn out onto the highway, you are, in a sense a predator, looking for something that is out of place or someone who does not play by the rules. It is not personal until someone makes it so. When they do, you know your training has prepared you to handle the situation, as confrontation is your constant companion. In these moments, you must win or the penalty can be severe. Physical confrontations are not commonplace, but they will happen and your role is to manage them and restore dignity. Unlike in my day, your every action is likely being photographed by a citizen carrying a gun. I acknowledge the dramatic change in society’s dynamics and suspect the job today is more demanding than ever. The significance of traffic enforcement is misunderstood and tends to be relegated to the bottom rung of agency priorities, an extremely unfortunate circumstance. I am retired and content, however; give me 10 officers with exclusively traffic responsibilities and we would terrorize the city I live in, reduce accidents significantly, catch more felons and teach this populace all about rules and responsible driving. We would recover a small fortune in delinquent license fees and sell car insurance at an unprecedented rate. In short, we would make a difference and the city safer.
The next time you pass an officer who has a vehicle stopped, smile and remember his role. It is not easy out there, and he/she is making a that difference!
Have a good week!
SR
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