CHP Ride Along= Awesome

[CA50]

So, on Tuesday I went on my first ride along with the CHP. I was at the station early for A watch and rode for 8 hours. I would have done the whole 12 ( i was given the option) but had to take care of some things in the afternoon. Overall, I was very impressed with the work that you gentlemen do (not only CHP but LE in general) and would like to thank the Santa Fe Springs station for an awesome ride along. I was able to ask a lot of questions and cement my decision to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Some things we did:
2 traffic breaks 1 for dead pit bull in HOV lane and 1 for stalled van in HOV lane
a couple assists to stalled vehicles
2 tickets for rolling stops at a stop sign
1 ticket for cell phone use
1 ticket for hauling 2 trailers on top of another trailer (trailer hitches were sticking out like 4 feet from the bottom trailer)

Thanks CHP for an awesome ride along. Hopefully I can work with you someday.

[DAL]

How do you think you would feel about it after doing that for 5 or 10 years?

[CrossFit]

So, on Tuesday I went on my first ride along with the CHP. I was at the station early for A watch and rode for 8 hours. I would have done the whole 12 ( i was given the option) but had to take care of some things in the afternoon. Overall, I was very impressed with the work that you gentlemen do (not only CHP but LE in general) and would like to thank the Santa Fe Springs station for an awesome ride along. I was able to ask a lot of questions and cement my decision to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Some things we did:
2 traffic breaks 1 for dead pit bull in HOV lane and 1 for stalled van in HOV lane
a couple assists to stalled vehicles
2 tickets for rolling stops at a stop sign
1 ticket for cell phone use
1 ticket for hauling 2 trailers on top of another trailer (trailer hitches were sticking out like 4 feet from the bottom trailer)

Thanks CHP for an awesome ride along. Hopefully I can work with you someday.

I hope you are a patient individual. There are people I know on here that passed their QAP's and submitted their packets back in February and have still not even had their initial background interviews. Good Luck..it's a long road but im sure very worth it!

[jgorto]

ca50 I'm glad that you enjoyed the ride along and im happy to see your positive attitude about working in the LE field. CHP is a great agency and one of the first I ever tested with. Sometimes I wish I got the job and ended up back in CA. best of luck and keep up the positive thinking.

[CA50]

How do you think you would feel about it after doing that for 5 or 10 years?

You mean doing traffic all day? There is a part of whittier where CHP is the main police force so I imagine they get more domestic calls. Honestly? I don't know. I know doing it for a day is probably doing it everyday for work. However, I could get on at another agency and feel the same way after 5 to 10 years.

[CA50]

I hope you are a patient individual. There are people I know on here that passed their QAP's and submitted their packets back in February and have still not even had their initial background interviews. Good Luck..it's a long road but im sure very worth it!

Yes, it is a long road. The officer I rode with has been on for a year and it took him a year to get hired back then. Although I would love to work for the CHP, I have to be realistic: I'm a newlywed and currently unemployed, so I feel I don't have the luxury of waiting for my #1 choice. In today's current economy, I would count myself lucky to get hired on anywhere as a recruit with so many qualified people out there. But, I'm sure this is want I want to do and the good things in life are not easy. wish me luck!

P.S.
what are some other agencies in California (preferably SOCAL) that are hiring? I saw that Santa Ana PD is hiring bilingual recruits and was thinking about applying. I'm fluent in Spanish. . .

[DAL]

You mean doing traffic all day? There is a part of whittier where CHP is the main police force so I imagine they get more domestic calls.

I believe you are mistaken. If you mean an unincorporated area adjacent to Whittier, CHP would only handle traffic there. LASD would handle everything else.

I don't know what agencies are hiring, but the ones that are hiring have a superabundance of applicants.

[CA50]

I believe you are mistaken. If you mean an unincorporated area adjacent to Whittier, CHP would only handle traffic there. LASD would handle everything else.

I don't know what agencies are hiring, but the ones that are hiring have a superabundance of applicants.

I could be wrong but that's what I understood from what the officer told me. Maybe a chippie could help clear things up?

[mdrdep]

I'll clear it up for you (LASD). CHP has primary responsibility to handle traffic matters in unincorporated areas of the county. General law enforcement is handled by LASD. There are no areas of L.A. County where CHP has primary general law enforcement duties.

[Blizzination]

I could be wrong but that's what I understood from what the officer told me. Maybe a chippie could help clear things up?

CHP's mandate is traffic investigation and enforcement in unincorporated areas of the state and state highways. City police departments and sheriff's departments in contract cities handle law enforcement duties for those incorporated cities, and sheriff's departments handle law enforcement in unincorporated (county) areas.

Hopefully, Sarge can back me up with this statement: CHP officers in more "rural" stations, in my experience have a tendency to "jump" calls. Bishop office/Bridgeport office come to mind right away. Years back I did a ridealong with the CHP Bishop office (North Inyo County)

Inyo SO called the Bishop office to assist a deputy responding to a domestic, as they had insufficient units to provide backup. My understanding is in the more rural areas where backup might be a ways off, it isn't entirely uncommon to call CHP to handle, or assist with a "traditional" law enforcement type call.

[CA50]

Thanks for the info. Regardless, I have a new appreciation for what you guys do, police/deputies/highway patrol. All three do their jobs great in my book, eventhough the only ticket I've ever gotten was from a deputy. . .I deserved it though, so no hard feelings.

[DAL]

CHP's mandate is traffic investigation and enforcement in unincorporated areas of the state and state highways. City police departments and sheriff's departments in contract cities handle law enforcement duties for those incorporated cities, and sheriff's departments handle law enforcement in unincorporated (county) areas.

Hopefully, Sarge can back me up with this statement: CHP officers in more "rural" stations, in my experience have a tendency to "jump" calls. Bishop office/Bridgeport office come to mind right away. Years back I did a ridealong with the CHP Bishop office (North Inyo County)

Inyo SO called the Bishop office to assist a deputy responding to a domestic, as they had insufficient units to provide backup. My understanding is in the more rural areas where backup might be a ways off, it isn't entirely uncommon to call CHP to handle, or assist with a "traditional" law enforcement type call.

That happened in the rural areas of Santa Clara County when I worked there, but CHP never took the paper unless it was traffic. In addition, from time to time there are areas of the state where the Governor assigns CHP officers to supplement local law enforcement agencies. I recall that happening in East Palo Alto, and I think it happened in Oakland.

[OliverR]

Yup-CHP and several other agencies took over all police duties in Oakland on order by the governor so that every Oakland Police Officer could attend the funeral for the massacre early this year.
And the EPA supplemental help that they did really helped but was eventually pulled and now they're at it again.
CHP are a great bunch of guys-but make sure you really like traffic, that's all I'll say lol think about the name, California Highway Patrol-The wide open road is gonna be your friend

[leif]

I dunno about the rest of you, but in my area I always see PDs and SOs making *gasp* traffic stops between calls. Seems like the CHP isn't the only one who "likes" traffic...

I work in an area that has many unincorporated towns. If I'm working my favorite beat, you won't find me on the freeway unless I have a call. I'm always stopping peds and bikes looking for dope, warrants, guns etc.

[DAL]

Of course they make traffic stops. The local police have primary responsibility for traffic enforcement in their cities, and sheriff's departments have primary responsibility for traffic enforcement in contract cities.

When I worked for a department in the Bay Area, I made a lot of traffic stops, but I also responded to and handled criminal calls, and engaged in pro-active investigation. The same was true in Southern California. Traffic stops provide an opportunity to find something more serious.

The thing to consider is whether you want your entire career to focus on traffic enforcement, or would like to have a broader experience with the opportunity for a variety of specialized assignments.