"Ride Along with a State Trooper - Part 2"

Last week I started telling you about a recent ride-along with CT State Trooper Shawn Mansfield as he patrolled I-95.  It was a real eye-opener to see the road from his perspective as we answered accident calls and pulled over at least one motorist for talking on his cell-phone.

Trooper Mansfield works five days on and three days off.  He gets to bid for his favorite shift, in his case starting at 5:30 am.  He also gets to drive “his” car home each night as he’s technically always on duty.

Mansfield’s car is an unmarked, super-charged beast that easily hit 80 mph as we zoomed to assignments, its hidden lights flashing and siren wailing.  He told me his favorite patrol is to drive in the middle lane just waiting for unsuspecting speeders to pass him on the left.  The day I rode, he sounded disappointed.  “I can’t believe nobody was trying to blow my doors off,” he chuckled.

Our patrol included visits to the DMV in Norwalk and a stop where we walked through an I-95 Service Area.  “I like to be visible,” he said as travelers and shop keepers nodded his way.

But when we were back on the road, the post-rush hour traffic was moving at the usual 70 mph.  “Aren’t we and most of these vehicles violating the speed limit,” I asked?  I wanted to know what the real speed limit is on our interstates and how Troopers choose whom to ticket.

“I can’t comment on that,” he said, noticing my pen poised to quote him.  But he did offer what seemed a logical and fair answer:  “I’m looking to catch the people whose driving might cause an accident.”

In other words, if you’re going with the flow a bit over the speed limit but using your turn-signals and not hogging the left hand lane, you’re probably OK.  But when you start weaving between lanes or driving much faster than the rest of the vehicles, Mansfield will get you.  At least that’s what I think he was saying.

“We can’t use radar on 95.  There are just too many cars.  But I do have a laser speed-gun which is very accurate,” he said.

But the best way Trooper Mansfield catches motorists is to compare his car’s speedometer (calibrated monthly) as he catches up to an offender.  That’s how your speed is most often clocked.

Going too slow or not staying in-lane is also suspicious, often leading to DUI (driving under the influence) arrests.  The Trooper said he’s seeing more and more DUI’s tied to drug use, not just alcohol.

Once stopped, your car can be searched if the Trooper has probable cause… an aroma of marijuana, for example.   If you refuse a search, they can always call out the canine unit whose olfactory skills are finely tuned.  Last January Mansfield says a highway stop lead to the seizure of 10,000 fentanyl tablets, an opiod 50 times more powerful than morphine.

Ending my “ride along” I was duly impressed with Trooper Mansfield, an earnest young man who takes his job of protecting the public very seriously.  Driving on I-95, I even feel a bit safer knowing he and his colleagues are out there.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media