Tropical Storm Send Off

For the final time, Welcome back blog fans! As my final week came upon me, I did everything in my power to make it the absolute best it could be. The internship proved that every available moment and opportunity has educational value. The week began with some familiarity, but new faces. I rode with Ranger Williams for the first time and we primarily patrolled the beaches and conducted fish checks. Once again, there were not any fish to check. We ran into some “Sea Robins” but their capture is not of much concern to rangers as that resource is plentiful. Ranger Williams took me on the trek out to North beach and the very tip of Sandy Hook. The walk from the parking lot to the beach itself is 1 mile. While the area is patrolled regularly, it is not seen as often as some areas in the park. Perhaps I mentioned in my first blog that on busy days, rangers really must focus on the big picture. Answering calls for service, substantial violations, and public safety for example. This is part of the difficulty in patrolling North beach. If you are needed elsewhere in the park, you are easily one mile away from even getting to your vehicle to respond. On the walk out we stopped at an elevated bird watching stand to overlook the closed area of the beach and we noted some vandalism that had occurred to the stand. As we continued onward, we had plenty of time discuss the resource and much more. We discussed emergency medicine, orienting a career with the N.P.S., fitness, and the police academy. He had some great insight on the importance of fitness in this profession. We made contact with a few groups that were fishing and one individual who was fishing in the closed area. “Dredging” had been mentioned a lot during my time at Sandy Hook, but I was never sure of where or why. While in the closed area, Williams pointed out where the dredging occurs, and that the area is dredged so that shipping vessels can get in and out of New York city. Once we worked our way back, we made a few traffic stops. This was one of those stand out, educational moments even in my last week. Ranger Williams conducted his stops with some safety measures that I had not seen before and I really liked it. I plan to bring those ideas with me in my career to take into consideration. The following day was an exciting one with my supervisor, Ranger Lyle. Our much-anticipated ride on the boat came to fruition. Unfortunately, our excursion was a must as our neighbors at the United States Coast Guard base told Ranger Lyle that all of the boats needed to be removed from the water due to the impending Tropical Storm. Taking the boat for a maintenance run on the water before removing it ensures everything is functional. We attached the boat trailer to a patrol unit, ensured everything was in working order, and headed to the boat. Before leaving the dock, Ranger Lyle familiarized me with the boat, and we conducted a G.A.R. assessment. The G.A.R. (Green, Amber Red) is a risk assessment performed by Rangers prior to a potentially hazardous event which aims to determine and mitigate risks. After discussing the risks, we determined we were in the Green and off we went. It was my final week and I was seeing a whole different view of the park; it was awesome. Additionally, the view of the New York City skyline was equally awesome. We traveled up and down the ocean side and the bay side of the peninsula. Through the channels and under the Sea Bright/Highlands bridge leading into the park. Upon return, we power washed the boat and moved it to high ground for weathering the storm. Yes, “high ground” is arbitrary when the park is a peninsula.

Views of Sandy Hook from the boat.

The boat loaded onto the trailer.

Powerwashing the underside of the boat.

As scheduled, Tropical storm Isaias made land fall on Tuesday. Chief Heuser comically commented on me being there day, night, or even hurricane. The park had already been closed for the day at midnight. Sure enough, there were still plenty of people looking to visit. The only excitement of the day came when two vehicles drove past the barricades and the rangers were off to find them. Before the high winds, rain, and power loss I went through each of the patrol vehicles to document their mileage and to collect fuel receipts for Ranger Whithers. The storm proved what the ProRangers have been told, “Rangers do it all”. The Law Enforcement rangers were picking up and moving storm debris all day as they patrolled.

Fighting the wind as I gather vehicle information.

(Above)Raised dunes and rolled up mobility mats in preparation for the storm. (Below) This spot and a few others had sand and water coming across the roadway.

Once the storm passed it was time for more excitement. Wednesday started with a call from Resource about an “unidentified object”. I thought that could only be aliens or a bomb, and neither are good. However, given the year so far, neither would be surprising. I went with Supervisory Ranger Miller who is most familiar with E.O.D. operations and procedures. He determined that the “device”, a brass container that had washed up on the beach, was not an explosive and safe. I said it was time for some excitement, but admittedly, that call interrupted our mornings work of documenting the location of every arrest at Sandy Hook in the last twenty years. After wading through data, my last assignment for the day was going with Ranger Whithers to retrieve one of the parks new patrol vehicles from the emergency lighting installer. It`s a beaut. I was able to learn something from just radio traffic on that day too. There were motorized paragliders flying over a closed area in the park. This concerned the Resource division as they could disturb the birds. I was able to hear the call unravel in its entirety as the radio signal held out driving to and from the installer. Afterwards, I heard about it from the Ranger who handled the call too. Sandy Hook has cars, trucks, A.T.V.`s, and a boat. They don`t have a plane though, so making contact is impossible until they land. The Ranger ran into to a Sea Bright police officer at the park entrance and asked him to contact the paragliders as they appeared to be landing outside the park. I was shocked to hear that they did make contact and explained the reasoning behind the closure. Speaking to paragliders about why bothering birds is an issue is not the norm for municipal police officers. Plus, they have their own town and beach to worry about. That proved that going the extra mile is worth it and interagency cooperation is possible. At the end of the day, enforcement is the job. The day was over, but the night was young. That day I stayed for the night shift to experience a different aspect of the park. The night shift shares many of the same types of calls with day shift, but they tend to see more of the effects of alcohol. These rangers also must clear the beaches at closing, watch closely for impaired drivers, and secure buildings. Ranger Nash took me along for the evening. Ranger Nash had some great advice to share for bettering myself in my future career. He has a background in corrections which surely has some benefits in the transition into law enforcement. Throughout the night Ranger Nash initiated a number of stops for drivers showing signs of impairment. Two of the veteran Sandy Hook rangers are on nights as well and they are very well versed in detecting impaired drivers. The opportunity to see them work after hearing about them was a great experience. I was able to witness both of their D.U.I. arrests that night. Additionally, I was able to witness a C.D.S. search for the first time. During the search, several cars started to line of at the entrance, so I was sent to direct them. Some humor came when it was mostly other rangers coming back into the park.

(Above) Sitting with a vehicle, post inventory, awaiting a tow. (Below) Organizing arrest data.

In closing, my last day in the park came all too soon. It came with another first, a ride along with Ranger Buckingham. This was our first ride along but far from our first interaction. We returned to the location of my first foot patrol, Gunnison beach. It was only right to come and say goodbye. Throughout the day we made a few contacts on the beach. I was impressed by how Ranger Buckingham handled an alcohol contact where he was outnumbered by far. It showed the power of confidence and discretion. Later, I was able to witness another C.D.S. search. All the Rangers impressed me once again in how it was handled. Afterwards I was able to watch the evidence being processed and destroyed, one last time. To wrap up the day, I knocked off a Sandy Hook bucket list item. Climb to the top of the lighthouse. I have faint memories of climbing the Sandy Hook lighthouse as a child, but never the chance to stand outside at the top. Since my initial climb, some restoration work has been done. This served as a lovely reminder that protecting the park is worth it. As you can see in the attached photos, the view is beautiful. Far better than I imagined. Mission completed. Ranger Buckingham and I made our way down and returned to the Ranger station where I said my thank you`s and goodbyes. Despite a global pandemic my internship was carried out. I was a metaphorical sponge and absorbed all of the information I could. The Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area took me in as one of their own. I am forever grateful for the experience.

Views from the top of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Potentially next years ProRanger marketing material.

Off to P.R.L.E.A.

Next Stop, PRLEA!

Hello again Park People! 

The last week and a half of my internship was definitely a time to remember! In that short amount of time, I was able to learn so much and develop new skills I never thought I would have. I started off the week at Independence Hall again, still working in the maintenance division. However, this time I worked alongside the Masons to replace stone slabs on Oriental Avenue, which is a cobblestone walkway that is used by many people every day. The first step of this process was to use a Jack hammer to break up the older stone that was there. All of that stone was shoveled into trash bags to be disposed of by the sanitation part of maintenance. This took most of the first day since it required a lot of manual work and heavy lifting. Once the area was cleared out, it was time to start mixing the concrete that would be used to lay the stone. I, along with another ProRanger, was able to mix the concrete and get a few of the slabs laid before the end of the day. When we came in the next day, we got right to work on laying the rest of the slabs of stone we had left. I was even able to cut one of the slabs to the correct size using a power saw that would be used, which was very cool since it was something I had never done before. I really enjoyed this project since it required a lot of heavy lifting, mixing, etc. This is definitely a skill I will remember for my own future usage. 

Using the Jackhammer to break up old stone

Mixing cement

Oriental Avenue after all of the new stone slabs were laid

 

After taking my “weekend” days off Wednesday and Thursday, I headed back down to First State on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There was not much to do on Friday since it was raining, so there were not a lot of visitors at the park. We decided to use this time to pick up trash throughout the picnic area, since littering is one of the biggest issues this park faces. One of the biggest takeaways I’ve gotten from this internship was that the role of a Law Enforcement Ranger is not just Law Enforcement. Law Enforcement Rangers also help the other divisions within their parks in order to keep it nice and maintained. While at this shift on Friday, we got word that there was an “unplanned social event” being promoted on Instagram with the location of the park on the flyer. That is when the action began. The Chief of Maintenance at First State, along with Ranger Fernandez, got updates from other local agencies about what the plan would be to try to stop this event from happening. After the discussion, it was decided that we would be back bright and early at 6am at First State.

Once we arrived on Saturday morning, we closed the Smith Bridge parking lot. This is where most of the traffic within the park happens, so it caused some people to be a bit upset. I worked alongside another ProRanger to ensure that people were parking in the open, designated parking lots and not along the roads where the no parking signs were. This was done by directing traffic, closing and opening parking lots, and driving the UTV around to find cars parked in places that they should not have been. This went on for a few hours until a meeting occurred that included the NPS, Delaware State Troopers, Delaware State Park Rangers, and New Castle County Police. They discussed which roads would be best to close down in order for the event to not be able to happen. Once these roads were closed down, we patrolled the park and made sure everything was kept under control. It was very cool to see all of these different agencies work together to stop this event from occurring. We ended up working in the park until 6pm that night.

Using the UTV to patrol for illegal parking

The Sunday of that weekend had the main focus of traffic violations. First State has a problem where people will park on the grass right in front of the “No Parking” signs. We used the day Sunday to educate the public about how parking in these spots destroys the land and causes unsafe traffic patterns. We were able to get a good number of visitors to move their cars, which was very cool to see. We also used the day to go over Handcuffing techniques since both of us are starting the academy soon. The rest of the week was used to assess storm damage on the trails at First State. Luckily there was not a lot of damage on the trails, but the Smith Bridge picnic area definitely saw some damage due to the water level of the creek rising dramatically.

Damage from the storm at the picnic area

 

Overall, the experience I had at both of these parks was amazing. I was able to learn so much about Law Enforcement, as well as what goes on behind the scenes in order for these parks to run smoothly. I am very excited to take all of this information I have learned and apply it both while at the academy and in the field. Now that the internship has come to an end, it is time to go full force into the academy to become a great ranger! Thank you for following along in my journey!

 

Until next time,

ProRanger Moore