By Alexia McCulloch, newsdesk@bluebonnetnews.com
It’s difficult to capture the full scope of a day in the life of a law enforcement officer, when their job is dangerous enough for many people to not get through the requirements of the job. When done correctly, the job of a law enforcement officer has a certain nobility due to the inherent risk it presents and the officers’ willingness to lay down their lives defending the good and honest people in this country, and county.
Every time a law enforcement officer walks out the door of their home, there is a chance things could go awry and they won’t return.
This being the case, my day in the life for this edition was a more laid-back one, in its own way, because I was unable to do many of the duties of a law enforcement officer. There weren’t any calves for me to tackle, or bee boxes to smoke, or asphalt to patch a road with as in previous Day in The Life articles. I am prefacing the upcoming paragraphs with that because a lot of my day with Liberty County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Ingram was more of a learning experience and long conversation about the highs and lows of law enforcement rather than action-based, sweating-my-butt-off type of day I’m used to with this series.
Other reporters for Bluebonnet News have gone on ride-alongs with law enforcement before, but this was pretty new to me. To add to my nervousness, while pulling up to the Cleveland Annex at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 5, I had never met Ingram before and I was about to spend the next 10 or so hours with him, and I have an unfortunate tendency to put my foot in my mouth.
Thankfully, all the deputies were very friendly and welcoming and seemed glad that I was there. I signed some paperwork and talked to the other people on shift that day while Deputy Bryan Cavanaugh retrieved some of his spare body armor, some of which he uses for SWAT situations, which I tried on before heading out with Ingram for the day.
We began our tour of Liberty County with the Plum Grove and Colony Ridge areas, which Ingram and his partner, Deputy Derrick Mobley, patrol normally.
“We’ve been able to build some good relationships with people in this community, and some people are still so scared that they’ll never call us even if they are a victim. That’s what we’re trying to fix but it’s not an overnight deal,” he said about the area.
He had many stories to tell about Colony Ridge and calls he had worked, but the most talked about subject for this area had to do with the fentanyl crisis troubling the country.
“I think last year, just in these neighborhoods (Colony Ridge), we saved 12 lives from fentanyl overdoses. And unfortunately, you know, lost some as well. Big problem out here. The one common factor, out of everyone that either we’ve saved or we’ve lost, for fentanyl, the one thing they all had in common, not a single one of them knew that they ingested fentanyl,” Ingram said, who speaks at schools in the area about the effects of drugs.
The animal control problem in Colony Ridge is also worth mentioning. Ingram talked about how often there are dog bite calls. We discussed how dogs can really complicate calls, especially when they’re considered dangerous. He mentioned how sad it would make him to have to shoot an animal on a call even if it is necessary.
We ran the roads for the rest of the day, driving from Cleveland to Dayton down Highway 321, and onwards to Liberty, following Highway 146 through Hardin, getting on to Highway 105 in Moss Hill. The sheer size of Liberty County – 1,176 square miles – is often underestimated. To put that in perspective, Liberty County – one of only 254 counties in Texas – is roughly the same size as the State of Rhode Island.
While talking about his wife, Deputy Ingram mentioned how she volunteers for the Cypress Lakes Volunteer Fire Department and is a schoolteacher, so public service runs deep in their family. Continuing on, we drove back to Cleveland and then went to the Rye area, catching a disturbance call (it was recommended that I not get out of the car). I might’ve been wearing some hefty body armor, but the reason I have a lot of respect for law enforcement is because they do much scarier stuff than what I’m up for, so I stayed in the truck without complaint (plus it was cold and raining).
“I think that the public should understand that we both want the same thing. I think that the way this culture and society has turned the narrative that it’s us versus them. in reality, I think our objectives are the same. We both want safer communities. We want trust between the police and the citizens.”
Liberty County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Ingram
We got lunch, and then visited the Horseshoe Lake Estates area, a community near Romayor that I had never visited, and then met up with Deputy Matt Growney regarding a trailer that had been stolen out of Alabama and traced to our area. Ingram, Growney, and I were all pretty impressed how agencies as far as Alabama and ours can come together and solve problems.
The day was coming to a close so I asked Deputy Ingram a few questions on our way back to the annex.
Q: What made you decide to be a police officer?
A: Actually, I was in high school and I wanted to, you know, I had a totally different career path. We had an incident at the house where somebody tried to break into my house. And I was home alone when it happened. I called 911 and the cop that came out was just a really cool dude, nice guy. He came out to the house and ended up talking to us for hours. Through talking to him, he got me to join a criminal justice program at my high school, and on the first day of that class I was like that’s what I want to do with my life. No questions asked and that was it.
Q: How long have you been in law enforcement?
A: It’s going to be 10 years that I’ve been in law enforcement, starting in the jail career. Most of my time was with Harris County. I just came here to Liberty County in July, so I’m new to this county and working in it. I wish I would have started my career here. This place is just a much – I don’t know – the county cares about its people here. I didn’t have that in Harris County.
Q: What has been the scariest moment of your time in law enforcement?
A: After several years on the job, I’ve encountered my share of intense moments. The scariest part, though, is how you adapt and become desensitized over time. It’s not that things lose their gravity, but rather, you learn to navigate the challenge with a level of composure that might surprise you.
I would like to thank the men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line to keep us safe in this crazy world we live in. It is sometimes, not only a thankless job, but one that receives an undue amount of hatred. We are all trying to get through this life for the first time so be respectful to one another, and especially the folks who would lay their lives down for you, even if you feel like your traffic ticket was undeserved.
I would also like to thank the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Josh Ingram for giving me the opportunity to understand their way of life and line of work better and for being so gracious and welcoming of me, and Bluebonnet News. I had a wonderful time asking questions and increasing my knowledge about a day in the life of a sheriff’s deputy.
If you have suggestions for A Day in The Life, we’d love to hear from you. Send your suggestions to editor@bluebonnetnews.com.