State Patrol handled 3,725 calls during blizzard

When you think of the Iowa State Patrol, you think of a money-hungry machine that just loves to write you tickets on the wide open road amongst the corn fields. You may not necessarily think of a law enforcement agency that handles and dispatches a few thousand calls around the state within the span of a couple days.

But that’s just what happened during the recent blizzard: they handled 3,725 calls for help, the Des Moines Register reports. That’s more than double the average of 766 calls a day.

While the only time I ever hear dispatchers from the Iowa State Patrol is when they’re communicating with the executive protection branch at the Iowa capitol. But I’m sure it made for some great listening on LEA and car-to-car, along the same lines of Highway Helper and the DOT snow plow crews. I’m sure they had many colorful ways of describing those unskilled drivers that didn’t heed the “travel not advised” warnings…

Those same systems will probably make for some good listening this week, as holiday travelers will be fighting rain, freezing rain, sleet, and possibly a foot or snow on top of all that. Let’s hope people have wised up this go-round.