Huntsman views UHP in action on ride-alongs
Four times this year the governor has participated in ride-alongs with Utah Highway Patrol troopers on DUI sweeps.
Thursday night, Huntsman got to see a little more than someone trying to walk a straight line.
While the governor was riding with one trooper, another one got into a pursuit that ended in a foot chase. The trooper was forced to use a Taser on the fleeing man. But when that was ineffective, he sent a police dog to subdue the person, said UHP Lt. Daniel Fuhr, who also provides security for the governor.
Fuhr said Huntsman is along on all calls simply as an observer and does not try to make any arrests or perform any DUI tests.
"He meets with other law enforcers," Fuhr said. "He likes to get a pulse on what's going on."
Huntsman spends time with law enforcement just as he does with other state employees, his communications coordinator, Lisa Roskelley, said Friday.
"It's more of a morale thing," she said. "It's not terribly different than his trying to go out to other organizations within state agencies and saying, 'Hey, how are things going?' It's just that it tends to be more exciting."
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