Oh. My God. I definitely got way more than I bargained for this week while working VRP and patrolling with Ranger Cooper. When she told me that SAMO mostly gets low level misdemeanors, I thought we were going to spend our time telling some lady to put her dog on a leash or redirecting equestrians to horse-friendly trails. I want to clarify that I definitely did not expect an action movie, I also didn't expect this week's event to happen either.
Tuesday was probably the most calm day out of the week. Ranger Cooper spent most of the day answering my questions as we patrolled a few areas of the park. I asked her about the park's legal relationship with the state of California, and she told me that she can enforce both federal and state laws within the jurisdiction SAMO, and that the park does not have it's own detention center so, depending on where a suspect was arrested, a Ranger would either book them in to Ventura County or Los Angeles County jail.
One seemingly unimportant event happened Tuesday morning. We went to patrol Rocky Oaks and there was this red Toyota in the parking lot. Ranger Cooper walked up to check it out and once she cleared it, I was allowed to observe the car. The windows were cracked and there were numerous open packs of baking soda spread around the car. The car had an orange sticker on it, which is used to mark the car as abandoned and start the 24 hour countdown that the owner of the vehicle has to move it or else it'll be towed. The sticker was placed at about 6:00 AM, 2 hours before we got there by Ranger Spraggins. As it turns out, the Rangers actually know the owner of this car. The car is owned by a homeless woman who I will refer to as Mary, which is not her real name. The Rangers have made contact with Mary a couple of times. She actually has 2 cars, the other is a gold sedan, but the red Toyota has been parked in Rocky Oaks for multiple days now, so Mary really needs to find another place to park it.
This is the crazy part I was talking about earlier. So Ranger Cooper and I arrive at Rocky Oaks, Mary is there with both her cars. 4 hours. We spent a grand total of 4 hours during the contact with Mary! This is what happened:
Ranger Cooper approached Mary, explained to her that she can't leave the red Toyota in Rocky Oaks and asked if she could move the car. Mary says that she cannot do that because she can't physically get in the car as it has not been "cleansed". Mary said the car had neurotoxins that would make her extremely sick so she needed to get it fumigated. She intended to bring someone out to Rocky Oaks to fumigate her new car in the parking lot, which is illegal. Ranger Cooper told her that she can't do that, warned her that if she did not move her car it would be towed. Mary goes on a long monologue about toxic chemicals in modern technology and how she will collapse and die if she inhales too much. Ranger Cooper asked Mary if she had a friend she could call to move the car for her. Mary ignored the question and accused Ranger Cooper of acting irrationally and claimed that the chemicals from the government have degraded her brain so she couldn't understand what Mary was attempting to explain. Eventually, Ranger Cooper concluded that Mary could not be reasoned with and called a tow truck.
When the tow truck arrived Mary freaked out and blocked the tow truck with her body so it couldn't hook up to her car, which meant Ranger Cooper had to put herself between Mary and the tow truck so it didn't run her over. Mary got even more upset and continued lecturing Ranger Cooper on how she does not have the authority to make these decisions or enforce any laws, and that she is abusing her power as a Park Ranger. Like a professional, Ranger Cooper brushed off the verbal abuse and threats of being fired and continued to apply de-escalation tactics. Yesterday, Ranger Cooper told me that when she is dealing with a verbally combative person, she just lets them talk until they calm down. She said after that point they're easier to deal with. Unfortunately, that was not the case for Mary.
We ended up calling three other Rangers to the scene, Ranger Preece, Ranger Spraggins, and Supervisory Ranger Kuja. After a while of back and forth, Mary reluctantly agreed to move her red Toyota and park it on the side of the road. The Rangers issued her three citations; one for interfering with agency function, which is when she blocked the tow truck, another for invalid registration, the red Toyota's registration was in the name of the previous owner and expired 2 months ago, and a third for a closure violation, she admitted that she had spent the night in Rocky Oaks and two Rangers found that she had set up a campsite for herself off the trail. Mary was very upset about the citations, she demanded that they be rescinded. When the Rangers refused, she threatened that she would take this to the Supreme Court and they would all be charged with abuse of power and malice, and be fired. The Rangers were unfazed and began to drive away as she continued ranting. By the time Ranger Cooper and I left it was close to noon.
On the drive home, Ranger Cooper apologized that dealing with Mary took so long. I did not think the apology was necessary because it will likely be the best exposure I have to this job all summer. In the moment, I thought the whole ordeal was agonizing, but after observing how Ranger Cooper managed to remain professional even though her patience was running thin, no matter what Mary said to her, it opened my eyes to how much patience is required. Ranger Spraggins even told me that this is the job, dealing with all kinds of people. Most times the people you talk to will be reasonable, but every once in a while there will be that one person who gives you a hard time. When that happens, a Ranger must remain calm and professional, be the voice of reason, and above all maintain control of the situation.
On Thursday we got a call from Generalist Ranger Low that a homeless lady was harassing people at Rocky Oaks. Ranger Cooper answers the phone and says we're enroute. I can tell we're both hoping it's a different woman, lo and behold, it's Mary, and she's moved her red Toyota back into the parking lot. Ranger Cooper says we're making this one short and sweet, she asks Mary if she's been having trouble with any of the visitors. Mary tries to go off on a tangent but Ranger Cooper and I decide to go look for the visitors. We come across two women who claimed they didn't feel harassed by Mary and described her as "just really chatty". With no laws to enforce and no reason to be here, Ranger Cooper and I planned to leave. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Mary walks up to the car and demands an official apology and that her citations be removed. Ranger Cooper tells her she can't do that, and that it's up for the court to decide. Mary once again threatens to have her fired, but Ranger Cooper shrugs off the rude comments and drives away.
A little earlier in the day, we were patrolling when Ranger Cooper said we were going to Malibu to check on another Ranger who hadn't answered his radio in awhile. Ranger Braten was perfectly fine, he was just dealing with this teenage girl who went out onto the Pacific Coast Highway and was doing burnouts...on the actual highway. Ranger Braten saw the smoke from the car and gave her a citation. With that, Ranger Cooper and I went back on patrol.
Friday was a very calm day for a patrol, the weather was beautiful and there was a gentle breeze. Ranger Cooper and I patrolled for a little bit before heading to King Gillette Ranch for an ice cream party. The party was for Miroslava, who has taken a job opportunity to work for SAMO Youth and thus will no longer be part of the interpretation division. Ranger Cooper and I enjoyed lunch and ice cream with other rangers. Thankfully, we had finished our ice cream when we got a call at Peter Strauss Ranch that there was a film crew shooting. When we got to Peter Strauss we saw a small photography crew with a model and a tent dressing room. The crew claimed they weren’t making money off of the photoshoot, which is technically a loophole for not having a permit. Ranger Cooper could have written them a citation for having a tent up as a changing room for the model, as you need a permit for that, which they didn't have. However, she decided to use law enforcement officer discretion and only made them take the tent down. They took a couple more photos and then left.
Saturday was an early start for me. I needed to be at Peter Strauss Ranch at 7:30 to direct parking for National Trails Day. On this day a crew of volunteers came to help maintain the trails at Peter Strauss to keep them presentable for our visitors, then we treated them to a catered lunch as a thank you. In the morning I stood on the side of Mulholland Highway and directed volunteers to their designated parking. In between directing volunteers I passed time by waving to cars stopped at the intersection and chatting with a few cyclists on a morning bike ride. At one point a motorcycle stopped at the stop sign, as a reflex I waved to him and he waved back at me before speeding off. It wasn’t until after he drove away that I realized I had just waved at Jason Mamoa… and he waved at me. I squealed like an over-excited 13-year-old girl.
A little after 9:00 AM I was still directing parking when a young man walked up to me. The first thing I noticed was that he’s barefoot, had lacerations on his nose and forehead and was wearing a patient ID bracelet from a hospital. He asked me if I could help him. Here’s his story:
He was really drunk the night before so he pulled over on the side of the road so as not be drinking and driving
He was then taken to the hospital because his BAC was so high
He has an unnamed witness who testifies that they saw cops surrounding his car and towing it. His phone and wallet were in the car
He has no memory of the previous night
I called Ranger Sanchez because I didn’t think I was qualified to help this man. First she called the LA county sheriff’s office and then the tow truck company. Once the company confirmed they had his car, Ranger Sanchez tried to call a ride for him. His brother didn’t answer and his mother was very angry once she found out what was going on. She scolded him for what happened, said that she wasn’t “doing this again”, and that he needs to “get his life together” and he’s on his own. Then she hung up. So Ranger Sanchez gave him directions to the towing company and he had to walk seven miles, barefoot, to pick up his car. Hopefully, Saturday will be the wakeup call he needs to begin his journey to sobriety.
National Trails Day went off without a hitch and afterwards a few of the NPS staff running the event and I went out to get Acai bowls and have fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment