Trooper Charles (Sam) Ketchum was hired by the Idaho State Police in the year
2000. He was initially assigned to Region 2 Patrol in Lewiston. In 2002,
Trooper Ketchum and his family moved to Meridian where he now works out of
Region 3 Patrol office. Trooper Ketchum is married to Debbie and has one
daughter, Jordynne and one son, Zachary.
- Since hiring on with the Idaho State Police, Trooper Ketchum has
taken on extra responsibilities and specialties. He leads by
example and is self-motivated.
- Trooper Ketchum is a DRE and a DRE Instructor. He has utilized
this training to teach fellow officers (City, County and
State), students, school teachers/administrators, and
business professionals the dangers of drug usage. He has also
taught them the signs and symptoms of persons who may be
under the influence of drugs. He is continually being asked
by the ISP training division to assist in providing this
training.
- Trooper Ketchum has been trained in criminal interdiction, which
includes identifying possible suspects who may be trafficking
large amounts of drugs within Idaho on our roadways. When
suspects are apprehended, Trooper Ketchum goes beyond the
arrest phase of the stop. He talks to the suspects and tries
to talk them into working with detectives to identify
additional drug traffickers. This additional time spent with
suspects has made cases throughout the northwest including
Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho.
- Since joining the State Police, Trooper Ketchum has become one of
the top DUI and drug related offenses arresting officers
within the State Police.
- Trooper Ketchum treats everyone he comes in contact with, with
dignity and respect. He goes beyond the "normal" for a
trooper. Trooper Ketchum stopped on a motorist assist just
outside the city limits of Mountain Home on Interstate 84.
The college female had run out of gas the night before on her
way home and no one had stopped to help her. When Trooper
Ketchum stopped, the girl was cold, hungry, and scared. He
used his fuel transfer kit to get the car going again, and
then followed her to Mountain Home. The girl was broke so
Trooper Ketchum used some of his own money to give her
additional fuel to make it home to Glenns Ferry. He also
bought her coffee and breakfast and made sure she was ok to
get the rest of the way home.
- Trooper Ketchum has driven up on two separate fatality crashes
while off duty. The latest was in the riggins area. Trooper
Ketchum utilized his On-Star to notify emergency personnel.
When the Idaho County Deputy arrived on-scene and found out
Trooper Ketchum was an "off-duty" ISP Trooper, the deputy
turned the crash investigation over to Trooper Ketchum and
then went and handled traffic control. It took another ISP
officer over one hour to arrive on-scene and take over the
investigation from Trooper Ketchum. There was another injured
party at the crash. Trooper Ketchum, his wife Debbie (who is
the manager of the Family Maternity Center at St. Al's), and
a vacationing paramedic from New York, all attended to the
injured until EMS arrived. The off-duty medic could not
locate his family. He finally made contact with them by cell
phone and they were in Weiser. Trooper Ketchum told the medic
to have his family go to a motel in the Boise area. Trooper
Ketchum then transported the medic to Boise and connected him
back with his family.
- Trooper Ketchum has been active with the Idaho State Police
Association in both Region's 2 and 3. He is currently the
ISPA Chapter 3 President.
- Trooper Ketchum is a Field Training Officer and has been
instrumental in training new officers.
- Trooper Ketchum is also a firearm instructor, which includes
keeping all of Region 3, including headquarters personnel,
current in their firearm certifications.
I would like to thank the Nampa Optimists for recognizing officer's, in a
public form like this, who go beyond the call of duty for their department
and community.
Sgt. Kevin White
Idaho State Police
Region 3, Boise
|
