After the academy I was assigned to Bakersfield area. My first thirty days were riding with an experienced officer, then I was turned loose and worked alone. This area was experimenting with one man cars on patrol 24 hours a day. Elsewhere patrols from 1800 to 0700 hours were always 2-man cars. I opted for the 2300 to 0700 shift as this allowed Sue to work and I could be home for Katy during the day. We were required to maintain a 415 report in duplicate and turn it in monthly. This report documented all hours worked, number of miles driven, accidents worked, citations and stops and were a complete record of your activity. One copy was turned in and you retained the other one. 
During my tenure with the CHP, I recorded 327,000 patrol miles, with speeds in excess of 125 mph 50% of the time. I had two or three 'cliff-hanger episodes', but I was either lucky or someone upstairs was watching over me as I didn't even put a dent on any car. I covered up to 50 fatal accidents. These were not pleasant and I try not to remember that part of the job.
I arrested over 100 cases of drunk driving. All were convicted with the exception of one. Her blood alcohol was .13 and in those days it took .15 for a violation.
I was shot by my fellow officer in an armed robbery stop. They turned out to not be the guilty ones, but the bullet ricoched off the roadway and struck me in the left arm. It wasn't serious, needed minor medical attention but no loss of work.
I was eligible for the sergeant promotion written test in my third year and I passed, but left the force before the oral test and final raiting to make sergeant. I was given several special assignments that my fellow officers didn't get.
A routine day would start with checking the schedule to see what area you were assigned to, pick up your camera (for accident shots), get the vehicle key for the one assigned to you and advise the radio operator you were on duty. From then on you worked your area and responded to radio calls. We had over 100 officers, one captain, one lieutenant and 3 sergeants - this was to cover 24 hours a day/seven days a week. We seldom had a sergeant even assigned to the graveyard shift I worked. We had monthly squad meetings, and target range practice. These were on split days and everyone had to attend.
After a period of time I started to be pressured by about 1/3 of the officers. They didn't want to work and their attitude was that 'you had better not write over one ticket a shift' or they were all over you. I was called names, I found feathers in my locker and other harassment. I was not cut out for that way of doing things - my attitude was that if I was a ditch digger, I would be the best ditch digger I could be.
I tried to curtail my citing and started writing more warnings.
Our policy on speed was a ten mph leeway so 55mph was not written until 65mph. Kern County actually instructed us to loosen it up to 70mph. I used to issue tickets at 85 and warnings on the others. This was fine until one day, I was working 99 north. I turned around on a north bound vehicle just south of Formosa and got a speed check of 73 mph. I decided to look the other way. I followed at a distance and about a mile up the road this vehicle ran off into the divider and rolled over twice and wound up on its wheels on the other side of a bank. Both right hand doors were open and four bloody young ladies were hanging half in and half out of the vehicle. I had a real mess on my hands, giving first aid to all four while waiting 20 miles for medical help to arrive. They all survived, but I felt the accident was my fault - not theirs. They were speeding, yes. They lost control, yes. But I was being paid not to raise revenue, but enforce the law to save lives and injury. My duty wasn't to please my fellow officers.
Other factors started to figure into my decision to leave the Force. Wages in 1957 for construction was about $520/mth. CHP starting wage with 4 step increases of 1 a year was $345/month less 11% retirement. Net pay $310. By the spring of '61, with all the raises, I had topped out at $510 less 11% for a net of around $455. All this before taxes - by this time construction was up to about $675/month. While I worked CHP it was necessary for Sue to work and help make up the gap. She worked at Brook's department store in Bakersfield - a locally owned dress shop. This was the first time that Sue had worked outside the home since our marriage. Had I been allowed to perform the job I was paid to do without peer pressure, and if we could have afforded to have Sue stay at home, I would have stayed. It was the real job I loved.
The photo of Sue and Katrina was taken outside a trailer we lived in when we first went to Bakersfield. The one above - with our dog Mike, was taken outside a house we rented.
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