Dangers of being a rural cop in Utah

The two cars pulled off the dirt road, heading in different directions, and deputy Josie Greathouse Fox followed the Cadillac.

About 1 a.m. in early January, the only light could have come from the rare car, or one of the homes scattered along the desolate stretch of U.S. 50 outside Delta.

Fox, a deputy with the Millard County Sheriff's Office, called in the Cadillac's license plate, grabbed her flashlight and walked toward the car.

When her fellow deputy found her just a few minutes later, Fox was already dead.

She held her flashlight.

Her gun was still in its holster.

A single bullet wound was visible just above her vest.

For the hundreds of officers patrolling Utah's roads, last week's tragedy was just one more reminder of why no traffic stop is ever "routine." Law enforcers from both rural and urban areas alike agree that making a traffic stop is still one of the highest-risk duties they are called upon to perform.

In both urban and rural settings, officers face the unknown when responding to those calls, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Snyder. The difference, however, is that in a populated area like Salt Lake City, backup officers are usually close by and can respond even to seemingly routine traffic stops.

"In the city, you've got backup within a minute," Summit County sheriff's deputy Joe Shuler said Thursday, driving the winding road toward the Wyoming border. The county stretches over 1,882 square miles, an expanse roughly the size of Delaware. And while Park City may be known for celebrities in mink coats, the eastern portion of this mountainous region is more comfortable with mink farms.

"Out here, there are times when you're anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour from backup."

Shuler, in his second year in Summit County, pulled over more vehicles than any other deputy in the department last year. Each time he steps out of the car, there is a risk.

"Traffic stops are one of your biggest danger times," he says. "You never know what you're going to stop or what the person has just done."

At the junction of I-80 and I-84, Shuler pulls over a white truck for not signaling. He's checking for insurance, warrants, drugs and alcohol. He warns the driver.

Next to the road, train cars wrap around the red rock at the junction. From the backyard of a home, a horse looks on as the sun sets behind the mountains.

In a rural environment, especially during a traffic stop at night, a criminal will try to use darkness, remoteness and lack of any witnesses to his advantage, said Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry.

"Not being seen emboldens criminals," he said. "If you park your car in a dark place, it's more likely to be broken into. Bad guys do not like being seen."