When you see red and blue lights
flashing in your rearview mirror, the first
thought usually isn’t of gratitude for the
officer who is about to pull you over. Generally speaking, the only interaction most
people will have with law enforcement
officers will be while they are on duty and
is likely not the happiest time of their life.
However, it’s important to remember who
these people are and to honor them for the
service they provide to our community. So
I sat down with Justin Baugh, an officer
for both Topeka and Wolcottville, to get
his perspective on law enforcement.
it or stop something that could become
criminal. That’s what I really enjoy
about the job.
Q: If you can, walk me through a
typical shift for you.
A: A typical shift is different in a
small town than it would be for the
county or a bigger city. A typical shift
in a small town ranges from dealing with barking dog complaints to
managing traffic control to dealing
with armed robbery as we’ve just had
recently. The range is HUGE in a small
town. You don’t have one set routine so
Q: How long have you been an
you take it on a day-to-day basis. You
officer?
never know what the next phone call
A: I’ve been an officer since 2009
you’re going to get from various difso I’m going on four years now.
ferent people. As it happened just this
past weekend for me, you never know
Q: What made you decide to join
in a small town, versus other bigger dethe police force?
partments that have more coverage, if
A: I got to deal with people at very you are going to have an eight hour day
pivotal moments in their lives. Enforc- or a 14 hour day. In a small town, if you
ing the law is just part of the job. The
deal with someone that has behavioral
majority of calls, if you look at the
health issues or someone with that
statistics, are actually civil matters and nature of issue that you have to transthey aren’t necessarily criminal calls.
port to the hospital before taking them
That means that the majority of calls
to a secure environment, you might
that I go to are having a crisis in their
have to be at the hospital for four or
life that has nothing to do with crimi- five hours. If that happens to be at the
nal behavior. It’s just a pivotal moment end of your shift, you don’t just get to
in their life where you can de-escalate
come home. In small towns, especially
Topeka and Wolcottville, there might
not be anyone coming on duty anytime
soon because there just isn’t enough
coverage, then you’re the guy that has
to stay there.
Q: Is there anything in general
that you would like to say to the general public?
A: The majority of officers don’t
have a goal to arrest somebody. Their
goal is not to go out every shift looking
for someone to take to jail. That is part
of our job and that’s part of what we
are here for … to take people out of the
general population if they are a threat
to others or if they are breaking the
law and the law says that we have to
do that. The vast majority of officers in
our county don’t like taking people to
jail, it’s just what they have to do.
Just from my own perspective,
when I meet people that have made
poor choices and there is a criminal
reason that I have to take them to jail,
it doesn’t always make me feel warm
and fuzzy inside to say the least but
that is part of my job. I just wish the
public would know that we are very
understanding people with families
and with lives and it’s not our goal to
destroy someone’s life. It’s just our job
to enforce the law.
The Hometown Treasure · January ‘13 · pg 15