Carrie Petersen

It’s 5:30 a.m. in the newsroom and I’m the only one at work. I’d normally still be sleeping but I got this crazy idea to get up early and join the Oregon State Police for a ride-along. My photographer was crazy enough to go with me.

The story is that the Oregon State Police has been understaffed for a number of years following budget cuts by the state government. Unfortunately, understaffed in a police agency translates to no 24-hour coverage, slower response times, and more liberties for criminals who are using our freeways and highways.

Less chance for a speeding ticket might sounds nice, but not when the exchange is more drunk drivers on the roads, more drugs traveling the freeways, and no help for a car crash.

But change is coming. Yesterday, the OSP office in Albany returned to 24-hour coverage, which is a good to hear. Less than three years ago, the office was down to 16-hour days. That meant that just as drunk drivers were getting on the roads, troopers were headed home.

This morning, Mark Ylen and I joined a trooper from the Albany office at 4 a.m. (no, the sun was not up then) and rode for a while. We (ok, the trooper) pulled over a few people for speeding and gave some warnings. Nothing exciting happened. No one was arrested, and we didn’t come across any traffic accidents. But it’s nice to know that there’s at least one trooper around anytime, night or day, if a problem should come up – because you never know when you’re the one who’s going to need help.

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