08 Dec A Day In My Position As a Law Enforcement Intern

Greetings all!

As you may know I am Lonnie Johnson III and I am currently interning with Law Enforcement here at the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, working out of the Ogden Ranger District in Ogden Utah. Since my internship began, I learned rather quickly that no two days are the same. Unless there is an early morning emergency, my supervisor and I typically arrive to the office around 0830 to catch up on emails and minor admirative duties such as filling out paperwork or perfecting our time sheets.

If my supervisor isn’t dispatched to a scene, we will begin patrolling forest land in our district. Typically, on our district we make multiple contacts with the homeless and advise them that they are not allowed to reside on the forest grounds for over a 14-day period. Educating the public is major day to day task when working in Law Enforcement.

At times members of the public are either trespassing or getting lost and search and rescue teams are activated in attempt to look for the missing individuals or parties. We work closely with local Sherriff departments and the city police to successfully accomplish the tasks at hand.

Like street police, we encounter DUI drivers, traffic stops, domestic violence issues, suicides and even fatal motor vehicle accidents on forest lands. Ensuring the safety and enforcing the state and federal laws are imperative to our success in Law Enforcement.