Weeks 9 & 10, 7/17-7/20,7/23 - 7/26
I had yet to see Ranger Cooper conduct a traffic stop, until
Monday. She was driving me back to my dorm, and we stopped at a 4-way
intersection with stop signs all-way. At the same time a motorcycle failed to
come to a complete stop at the stop sign and continued down the road. Ranger
Cooper turned to follow the motorcycle and close the distance. She pulled the
motorcycle over and approached the biker. He surrendered his license when she
asked for it and waited while she ran him. Ultimately, Ranger Cooper decided to
give the biker a verbal warning. While we were driving back home Ranger Cooper
was telling me that she loved conducting traffic stops and was glad I got to
observe her conduct one.
I didn’t think I would ever go to court until I became a
Ranger, however, I had the opportunity to attend a Zoom court hearing and
witness initial appearances. Ranger Cooper and I were originally attending
because “Mary” from week 2 was supposed to have her appearance, however there was
a mix-up in communication between her and her attorney, so “Mary’s” case got
continued to mid-August. Still, Ranger Cooper stayed on the call so I could see
what court was like.
There
were 2 other appearances that took place. The first was a man who was being
charged with and plead guilty to introducing heroin into a VA (veteran’s
affairs) building. The judge sentenced him to 10 days in incarceration and
ordered him to pay a $30 processing fee. The second man was being charged with
and plead guilty to inappropriately conceal-carrying a registered glock-19 in
Angeles National Forest, he was carrying it in his pocket. The judge ordered
him to forfeit his firearm and pay a $30 processing fee.
On Thursday, I got to ride with Ranger Preece. The first
place he took me was Saddle Peak, an area I didn’t even know existed. It was so
beautiful, you can see the ocean, most of the park, and the skylines of the
cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica. I wished we could have stayed up there
longer but we had other locations to patrol.
Ranger Preece also showed me where the Palo Comado Canyons
(the area next to Cheeseboro) connected to Lang Ranch, which is not NPS
property but we still patrol there sometimes. At the top of the canyons, he
pointed out a town called Simi Valley. Once again, I was in awe of the view. I
had been to Lang Ranch the day I did the pitfall trapping with Sienna and
Lorelai but I didn’t get to see the more scenic parts of it until Ranger Preece
showed me.
Right before patrol ended Ranger Preece took me through Zuma
Ridge, an 8-mile multi-use trail that runs between the Zuma and Trancas
Canyons. Driving along Zuma Ridge I could see the ocean and a large section of
Malibu.
On Wednesday, Ranger Cooper and Ranger McCauley from Channel Islands National Park worked together to lead a taser refresher for the
other Rangers. Axon, the company that makes the tasers, provided them with a
power point presentation that they modified to make it relevant to SAMO and
CHIS. The presentation contained things like policies regarding taser use, the
mechanics of the taser, and the physiological effects a taser can have on a
person. At the end of the presentation Ranger Cooper passed out a written test
that I took as well, and I scored higher than I thought I would. Once the test
was over, we all went out to the fire barn, to shoot practice cartridges at a
target. I thought firing tasers would be difficult because you have to aim two
probes, but Ranger Cooper explained that it's still easier than firing a gun
because a taser has LASERs to show you where each probe will hit when you pull
the trigger and there is no recoil. It was so fascinating to watch the Rangers
discharge their tasers.
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