A Ride-Along with Rosalia's Town Marshal | Crime

I spent my Friday morning with Ofc. Bob Fitzgerald as we patrolled the town of Rosalia and the surrounding area in Whitman County. If backup was ever needed, it could take Sheriff’s Deputies 20-30 minutes to respond. In these neck of the woods - you have to be trained with all techniques. A town marshal will be animal control, but also handle homicides.

The town of Rosalia has seen some population decline. Over the years - it has become fairly expensive to drive to and from Spokane for jobs. You’d have to drive 66 miles a day. The nearest grocery store is in Spokane or Colfax. You learn to stock up or depend on the town’s Empire Foods.

A new restaurant did open recently on December 31st and the town even has its own coffee shop now for early morning coffee drinkers. It slows down by about 9:30 a.m.

During the three and a half hours, we responded to zero incidents.

Below is a time line of events as they happened including a description of the commentary inside the patrol vehicle. To read the tweets as they happened, read our Storify for Tweet-Cap: Ride-Along with Rosalia's Town Marshal.

6:30 a.m. - Roads were covered with a very thin layer of frost this early in the morning on southbound Highway 195. Surprisingly - no deer were spotted during the trip. The average deer versus vehicle incidents for the area range from one to two a month. It has not been an issue this year because of the weather.

I waltzed into Bob Fitzgerald’s one-man office tucked away off of the main drive. A small room heated by a small heater. The room has a programmable heater - but it’s a little complicated. No time to waste time.

Fitzgerald was born in Wallace, Idaho and was previously a law enforcement officer for various Idaho counties. He came to Rosalia about ten years ago be their town marshal. Since then, he’s taken a few years of absence to work as a contractor with the state department in Kosovo and Iraq. In Kosovo he trained Kosovans how to be police officers. In Iraq, he would guard Baghdad police officers as they moved between their training academy and the green zone.

7:05 a.m. - We hit the roads for the daily patrol. We’re traveling in an unmarked vehicle that is fashioned for winter travel. The light bars have been removed because it’s in the process of being painted. Fitzgerald also has a motorcycle and marked vehicle, but they’re put away for the winter.

7:28 a.m. - Sunrise. Fitzgerald says the light pollution is minimal in Rosalia. Great for sunrises, sunsets and star gazing.

7:43 a.m. - We stop by the school to make sure kids are getting to school safely. With a clipboard, Fitzgerald records how many pedestrians walk to school and how many vehicles pass through the two streets. He’s pushing for light flashers to be set up marking the school zone, but at a price of $3,000 - that’s money the city does not have. It could be a couple years.

Fitzgerald noted earlier that the majority of supplies and tools inside the police station were bought with grant money.

8:30 a.m. - We begin patrolling the rest of the area. It can get a little quiet in Rosalia. On Wednesday, Fitzgerald says he responded to a dog attacking a home owner’s chickens.

With no incidents to respond to, we simply start driving from landmark to landmark. Fitzgerald shared his fascination for history - even relating back to the land they stood on. A monument overlooking the town remembers the Steptoe Battlefield, a conflict between the United States Army under the leadership of Lt. Colonel Edward J. Steptoe and regional Native Americas in 1858. Steptoe’s army was not in the lead. Instead of meeting a horrible fate and more casualties, the army snuck away in the night.

9:00 a.m. - Coffee break. The barista already knows I'm on a ride-along with Fitzgerald even before asking. 

9:12 a.m. - We patrolled by the Rosalia Airport. Spokane trainings come down here for lessons because of less flight congestion. It’s a short runway so only a small planes can land and take off. If they go too far on the runway, they’ll end up on the road that leads to Malden and Pine City.

9:45 a.m. We discuss other historical factoids about law enforcement including the stories by police racing stripes on pants and the officer badges in the shapes of shields with their insignia. We also discussed why women’s shirt buttons are on a separate side than men’s shirts - which dates back when woman did not dress themselves, someone else would do it for them. Men would button their own shirts.

9:50 a.m. - End ride-along.

Later today Fitzgerald would be attending a funeral for a Rosalia resident, also a friend, who suffered a heart attack. When a death occurs in the town, in most situations, he has to respond to it. He has to treat it like an unexplainable death - even an homicide - until it’s looked at by the coroner’s.

Fitzgerald says the area has its fair share of drug use deaths - street and prescription. In all his years he has yet to experience incidents with heroin. Surprisingly enough - crack is the most popular drug used, followed up by meth. There also happens to be a few prescription marijuana users.

“Law enforcement tries to hide a lot of stuff - I don’t understand why.”

Fitzgerald also added that nearly 40% of neighbors have police scanners in their homes.

Photo Gallery: The majority of this morning's photos were taken on a cell phone while driving around to various landmarks in Rosalia.