Boise, ID

This is my last social stop of the trip and to be honest, I’m not yet sure how I feel about that. I got into town on New Year’s Eve and accompanied (invited myself) along with my friends over to a low-key party. The evening wasn’t all that noteworthy, but I do take a little pride anytime I drink that much whisky and avoid making an ass of myself. At some point that evening I made plans with a buddy to do a ride-along with him one night. He’s a parole officer and a couple nights a week he goes out and does unannounced visits on his parolees/probationers to make sure they’re staying out of trouble.

It was a new and interesting experience for me. I had to sign a liability release and wear a bullet-proof vest, even so he wouldn’t let me carry a gun. Barring that I suggested a might carry a machete but he nixed that idea too, seriously, how scary would I be walking around at night with a machete hanging from my hip? I thought I’d just be tagging along and watching but as it turned out I actually got to assist in searching through people’s homes for drugs, alcohol, guns or anything else that was deemed by the court to be too much fun for a felon.

When a person agrees to probation or parole they agree to waive their fourth amendment rights. For those of you not up on the bill of rights, that’s the one that protects against illegal search and seizure. By waiving it, any member of law enforcement may search your house, car, or anywhere else you happen to be. At first it was a little strange, but by the end of the night I was rifling though people’s possessions like I was digging through the sale bin at a hardware store.