Spending A Night On The Road
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Daniel [email protected]
It's a brief respite, a break, midway through their shifts as officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department.
Rager, a corporal, and Howie and Mulligan, both deputies, have an easy, if not sometimes playfully antagonistic way with each other.[[In-content Ad]]"We like to joke around with each other, but when it's time to work, it's time to work," said Rager.
They all work second shift at KCSD and sign on at 1:30 p.m., working four shifts then having two off.
On this particular Thursday, Rager comes into the sheriff's department after dealing with issues with his squad car.
Like many other jobs, paperwork is a necessary evil as a police officer.
Rager completes an accident report, checks his messages and talks with other officers about the day's events.
The buzz Thursday is that an out-of-state woman, who allegedly shot her husband in the face and stole a car, may have local connections.
There is also chatter about drawing security detail at a local orthopedic company dealing with a potentially disgruntled employee.
The night before, Rager and several other officers spent much of their night chasing a subject suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine in a secluded area near Lake Papakeechie on the north end of the county.
As the evening progresses Thursday, Rager heads back to the wildlife preserve where they lost their suspect and points out all the "meth trash" along the side of the road.
Rager also spent part of Wednesday night initiating an investigation on a child molester.
Before Rager can get on the road Thursday, he needs to get with KCSD liaison Lt. Sam Whitaker to type up a report that will keep the suspected child molester in jail a while longer.
The victim and mother are being interviewed while Rager is completing his report with Whitaker.
After he's finished with Whitaker, and after some repairs to his vehicle, Rager hits the road for the night.
It's an eerily quiet night on the scanner as Rager drives around the county.
Rager became a police officer like many at KCSD do. A 1991 Warsaw Community High School graduate, Rager enlisted in the Army after high school, then worked as a reserve officer for the county and in North Webster before landing at KCSD. His first job with the department was in 2000 as a school resource officer at Wawasee High School.
Howie took a similar path as Rager, while Mulligan worked as an officer in Wabash before ending up with KCSD.
Rager is currently a part of the county's SWAT that includes members of Warsaw Police Department and the sheriff's department.
On the road Thursday night, WPD officer Allen Danko playfully tells one of the county officers to stop pulling people over inside the city limits.
Rager said that there is no animosity between KCSD and the city guys, and they "get along and respect each other."
"If there's a call, city or county, we don't worry about (jurisdiction)," said Rager. "We just want to get there and sort that out later."
Rager's first call of the evening is a dog complaint.
"Sometimes that's the job," said Rager.
Rager goes to the home on Barbee Lake where a man allegedly allowed his dog to get out and this caused a fight with a neighbor.
"I'm just a referee with a gun," jokes Rager.
While they rib each other for drawing such assignments, no matter how mundane it may be, they take them seriously.
This is evident later in the evening when dispatch calls Rager to let him know a female parole violator is hiding out at her friend'shouse near Syracuse.
Though joking and jovial prior, once Rager arrives at the residence his demeanor changes.
After several attempts to get the woman to leave the residence, she finally does. Rager is polite with her, allows her to finish a cigarette before taking her into custody.
This woman is a "frequent flyer," or someone who is arrested or involved with law enforcement on a regular basis. Rager has dealt with this woman before. He talks to her as he transports her to Kosciusko County Jail.
Once there, the woman is processed.
"Have you done any meth today?" asks Rager.
"Nope not today," the woman says as she tries to steady her hands enough to get the pack of Marlboros out of her pocket.
While Rager is waiting for her to be processed, he visits with some jailers.
The county lockup isn't sparse but it's not overcrowded either. The female inmates cat call anyone who walks past while some of the male inmates immediately take off their shirts, flex and point at tattoos when "civilians" pass by.
After the woman is placed into a holding cell, Rager is back in his car.
It's 9:15 p.m. and there hasn't been much action.
Rager said as the weather gets warmer the calls become more frequent.
Rager and the rest of the guys on second shift are supposed to head home around 10 p.m.
"On busy nights you'll be working until 11p.m., midnight," said Rager.
Thursday is not one of those nights.
Rager tries to patrol 100 miles throughout the county every night he's on. Rager hits that mark as he heads back to the county building at 10 p.m.
The night before, Rager and his fellow officers spent the better part of an evening knee-deep in mud and muck looking for a suspect and investigating an alleged child molester.
Thursday night it's paperwork, loose dogs and parole violators.
Three hours later, a traffic stop turns into the arrest of three for charges of manufacturing meth.
Sometimes that's just the job.
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It's a brief respite, a break, midway through their shifts as officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department.
Rager, a corporal, and Howie and Mulligan, both deputies, have an easy, if not sometimes playfully antagonistic way with each other.[[In-content Ad]]"We like to joke around with each other, but when it's time to work, it's time to work," said Rager.
They all work second shift at KCSD and sign on at 1:30 p.m., working four shifts then having two off.
On this particular Thursday, Rager comes into the sheriff's department after dealing with issues with his squad car.
Like many other jobs, paperwork is a necessary evil as a police officer.
Rager completes an accident report, checks his messages and talks with other officers about the day's events.
The buzz Thursday is that an out-of-state woman, who allegedly shot her husband in the face and stole a car, may have local connections.
There is also chatter about drawing security detail at a local orthopedic company dealing with a potentially disgruntled employee.
The night before, Rager and several other officers spent much of their night chasing a subject suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine in a secluded area near Lake Papakeechie on the north end of the county.
As the evening progresses Thursday, Rager heads back to the wildlife preserve where they lost their suspect and points out all the "meth trash" along the side of the road.
Rager also spent part of Wednesday night initiating an investigation on a child molester.
Before Rager can get on the road Thursday, he needs to get with KCSD liaison Lt. Sam Whitaker to type up a report that will keep the suspected child molester in jail a while longer.
The victim and mother are being interviewed while Rager is completing his report with Whitaker.
After he's finished with Whitaker, and after some repairs to his vehicle, Rager hits the road for the night.
It's an eerily quiet night on the scanner as Rager drives around the county.
Rager became a police officer like many at KCSD do. A 1991 Warsaw Community High School graduate, Rager enlisted in the Army after high school, then worked as a reserve officer for the county and in North Webster before landing at KCSD. His first job with the department was in 2000 as a school resource officer at Wawasee High School.
Howie took a similar path as Rager, while Mulligan worked as an officer in Wabash before ending up with KCSD.
Rager is currently a part of the county's SWAT that includes members of Warsaw Police Department and the sheriff's department.
On the road Thursday night, WPD officer Allen Danko playfully tells one of the county officers to stop pulling people over inside the city limits.
Rager said that there is no animosity between KCSD and the city guys, and they "get along and respect each other."
"If there's a call, city or county, we don't worry about (jurisdiction)," said Rager. "We just want to get there and sort that out later."
Rager's first call of the evening is a dog complaint.
"Sometimes that's the job," said Rager.
Rager goes to the home on Barbee Lake where a man allegedly allowed his dog to get out and this caused a fight with a neighbor.
"I'm just a referee with a gun," jokes Rager.
While they rib each other for drawing such assignments, no matter how mundane it may be, they take them seriously.
This is evident later in the evening when dispatch calls Rager to let him know a female parole violator is hiding out at her friend'shouse near Syracuse.
Though joking and jovial prior, once Rager arrives at the residence his demeanor changes.
After several attempts to get the woman to leave the residence, she finally does. Rager is polite with her, allows her to finish a cigarette before taking her into custody.
This woman is a "frequent flyer," or someone who is arrested or involved with law enforcement on a regular basis. Rager has dealt with this woman before. He talks to her as he transports her to Kosciusko County Jail.
Once there, the woman is processed.
"Have you done any meth today?" asks Rager.
"Nope not today," the woman says as she tries to steady her hands enough to get the pack of Marlboros out of her pocket.
While Rager is waiting for her to be processed, he visits with some jailers.
The county lockup isn't sparse but it's not overcrowded either. The female inmates cat call anyone who walks past while some of the male inmates immediately take off their shirts, flex and point at tattoos when "civilians" pass by.
After the woman is placed into a holding cell, Rager is back in his car.
It's 9:15 p.m. and there hasn't been much action.
Rager said as the weather gets warmer the calls become more frequent.
Rager and the rest of the guys on second shift are supposed to head home around 10 p.m.
"On busy nights you'll be working until 11p.m., midnight," said Rager.
Thursday is not one of those nights.
Rager tries to patrol 100 miles throughout the county every night he's on. Rager hits that mark as he heads back to the county building at 10 p.m.
The night before, Rager and his fellow officers spent the better part of an evening knee-deep in mud and muck looking for a suspect and investigating an alleged child molester.
Thursday night it's paperwork, loose dogs and parole violators.
Three hours later, a traffic stop turns into the arrest of three for charges of manufacturing meth.
Sometimes that's just the job.
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