COLO Week 1 - Living it up in Law Enforcement

Me posing by a no trespassing sign. What you
can't see is that the fence has collapsed about 10 feet
to my left.

Hello my name is Taylor Johnson and I'm the ProRanger spending their summer as an intern at Colonial National Historical Park near Williamsburg, VA. I lucked out and have spent week one of the internship with the Law Enforcement Rangers here at COLO and I couldn't be happier with this turn of events. I knew from the start of day one that this was going to be an exciting week as just a few minutes after being picked up in Ranger Lamb's (who just so happens to be a former ProRanger) patrol vehicle we received a call about a traffic accident on the Colonial Parkway. We weren't first on seen but arrived shortly after Ranger Brewer responded and began conducting traffic control to make sure the scene of the accident remained safe. Fortunately, this accident resulted in no injuries and after a wrecker arrived and hauled away one of the vehicles my first contact of the internship was over. And I was hooked.

A view I got quite used to as I rode
shotgun with Ranger Lamb

I went on to spend three more days following in the footsteps of Ranger Lamb and one day riding along with Ranger Brewer during my first week. During this time we did everything from traffic stops for speeding to patrolling the areas around the pull-outs on the Colonial Parkway. I'm especially thankful to have had the opportunity to ride along with Ranger Lamb most days due to the fact that he was in my shoes just a few short years ago. The information and guidance he's provided me with so far is invaluable and I look forward to spending more time under his tutelage.

Ranger Lamb responding to a bus stuck in wet grass

It was quite a busy week so forgive me if I forget anything but here's a brief rundown of what I did. As I mentioned previously day one started strong with a traffic accident only a few minutes into my shift. After that Ranger Lamb introduced me to the typical morning routine of opening up the gates to the various trails and then we hit the Colonial Parkway again to enforce some traffic laws. After observing Ranger Lamb conduct a few traffic stops for speeding he then gave me a crash course in how his Doppler radar works for determining the speed vehicles are moving at, some basic radio commands, and the procedure he uses during a traffic stop. Later that afternoon I joined my supervisor, Ranger Krebs, for a CPR training course with Ranger Brewer and Ranger Kinde.

The rest of the week flew by as I continued joining Ranger Lamb for road patrol, I received a number of tours of all areas of the park (some of which aren't seen by the usual visitor), and I tagged along with Rangers Lamb and Sheets as they took to the ground on foot patrol. In just one week I absorbed so much information that it's honestly a bit overwhelming and is going to take some time to decompress and decode, but I'm looking forward to continuing my foray into all things Colonial National Historical Park. If week one is any indication of how much I'm going to enjoy this internship then this is going to be a great summer.