CHP Officers Stress Traffic Safety Following Officer’s Death

Sonora, CA — Highway Patrol officers in the Mother Lode are speaking out about traffic safety following the Sunday death of the third CHP officer this year.

Tom Wills with the Jamestown CHP office and Mike Maddox with the CHP office in San Andreas say the job of an officer is a dangerous one.

The officers have each had close calls while on the job, and both say they had to do with traffic, not weapons.

Wills says reality really sets in when he has to put a black band on his badge, which symbolizes a fellow officer´s death. Maddox says when it comes to rookie officers; they should understand that they are not invincible.

But what about recruiting new officers? KVML news asked Wills if the death of an officer slows down the application process? “It weeds out a lot of people that were just going to do it for the money,” said Wills.

“People have to realize that there is a deadly side to this job, and they have to be able to explain that to their families.”

CHP officers around the state are still mourning the senseless hit and run death of 33 year old Brent Clearman over the weekend. The two year CHP veteran was investigating a non-injury accident in Oakland Saturday evening when he was struck. He died Sunday morning.

Written by Sabrina Sabbagh