California Highway Patrol: Honor, Trust, and Dedication

Section One: Introduction In California, people drive their cars to go everywhere: the grocery store, school, work, gym, the list is endless. These same people are also stressed for time. This combination can cause drivers to violate the traffic laws. Every day people drive their cars to work and then they drive back home. Most people hate to stay in traffic; they want to go faster, and they are always late. Other people like to travel; they also drive a lot. The main thing that these people have in common is that they violate traffic laws every day. Others prefer to use the carpool lanes while they drive alone in their cars. Still others will run red lights, skip stop signs, and cross double yellow line. To add to this, many young people like to throw trash from the windows while driving, and others even drink beer and then cause collisions or even fatal accidents. All of these types of drivers are violators, and they all must be cited for every single wrong thing that they do on the public roads. In California, traffic safety provides a law enforcement agency called the California Highway Patrol or CHP, which is the primary agency to enforce these laws. CHP officers make every effort to prevent crimes on the road. In 2005, the CHP started another hiring campaign to increase their ranks. It was at a time when I became especially enthusiastic about joining this department because I believe the CHP is the most respected and hardworking police agency in the state. Someday, I hope to become a CHP officer. From childhood until now, I have wanted to become a police officer because I believe police officers are the most intelligent, trustworthy, polite and professional people in our society. That strong spirit of public service is the major reason why I want to be part of law enforcement. Since 2004, when I started driving in California as a courier driver, I saw many crimes and violations committed on the road, and I know that my experience as a courier driver

Cited: Interview with CHP sergeant Jeff Johnson (transcript provided) Official CHP web site. <http://www.chp.ca.gov> Rick Mattos, Erik Estrada. California Highway Patrol. Charleston. Arcadia Publishing. 2008 Robert Wick. California Highway Patrol Yesterday and Today. New York. 1990 Unofficial CHP web forum page. <http://www.chpforums.com>