California Highway Patrol Amador Division officer Debora Zaragoza conducts a vehicle inspection at the beginning of her shift Wednesday. Photo by: Bethany A. Monk

It's a good job and there's a lot of freedom, according to California Highway Patrol Amador Division officer Debora Zaragoza.

"Every day is different," Zaragoza said. Some of her time is spent patrolling the roads and highways and other parts of her day are spent inside the office writing reports, conducting vehicle inspections and preparing for court dates.

"Yesterday I had a crash and followed a vehicle. I drove about 50 miles," she said in an interview Tuesday night on a brief break during her shift. "And last week, I drove about 200 miles in one day."

The CHP Amador Division has a total of 19 CHP officers, three sergeants and one lieutenant. Of these, four are women. And according to CHP Amador Division public affairs officer Craig Harmon, they're a great group of women officers.

What's it like?

"Most men are still gentlemen," she said, when asked if being a female in law enforcement is a big deal these days. The men she works with tend to be more polite when she's around, she said, adding that they try not to use profanity around her. And that's, really, the only issue she's experienced.

One aspect of being in law enforcement that sometimes bothers Zaragoza is the fact that many people don't see an officer as who she is - they only see the badge or the uniform, she said.

"They don't think of you as a mother, a daughter, a friend," said Zaragoza, who graduated from the CHP Academy in Sacramento in 1996. "Some people want to drive 90 miles per hour and they see me as the person who's holding them back from what they want to do.

"By the same token, I have people thank me," she said in reference to those who have told her they appreciate her efforts to help keep the roads safe. "That's a big weight going down the roads - they could really take someone out."

Zaragoza's husband, Craig, is also a CHP officer in the Amador Division. The two met in high school and went into law enforcement together. They have two children, who are 10 and 7, and work separate shifts so that they can take care of them.

Joy Palmquist, CHP Amador Division sergeant, said her 10-year-old son loves that she works in law enforcement.

"He's beside himself," said Palmquist, who has worked for CHP for 25 years. "When I was on a motorcycle," she said of her days patrolling in the Bay Area, when her son was a toddler, "he'd give me a hug and kiss and say, 'Be safe out there.' I think he has an idea of the element of danger - I don't sugarcoat what I do."

The most dangerous part about being a CHP officer or sergeant, Palmquist said, is that they have to stand so close to the traffic. "We stand within feet of people driving 50 to 80 miles per hour. People drive by, and we're just standing right there. There's nowhere to run.

"You also never know who it is," she said of pulling people over. It can be people speeding after committing a crime and a host of other situations.

Back when she rode a motorcycle for the CHP Redwood City unit, most of the people she pulled over thought she was a man. That is, until they heard her voice coming from the helmet that hid most of her face. This did not bother her in the least. "You just kind of laugh," she said, noting that she would probably expect the same in that situation.

Palmquist said that the Amador Unit is a great group, and that everyone works well together.

"You have to have fun," Palmquist said. "We joke a lot."

Zaragoza said her kids, like Palmquist's son, send her off each night with well wishes.

"Every night my daughter says, 'Mom, be safe. I'll pray for you.'"

Being a parent, Zaragoza added, makes her see her children in other children. "You know how precious children are and that some are at the mercy of someone who's driving around."

As for her and her husband, the two don't talk shop, Zaragoza said. "Although, we do understand each other. If you walk in someone else's shoes, it makes it easier to understand them."

Jackson Police Captain Christy Stidger said she and her husband, Drew Stidger, an Amador County Sheriff's lieutenant, understand each other's profession and this helps immensely when raising children.

"It works out good," she said. "We do it 50/50," she said of parenting.

Stidger has worked in the JPD since 1994 and says she loves Amador. She, like Zaragoza and Palmquist, said that being a woman in the field is not a big deal these days. She started as a reserve officer in Los Angeles in 1981, and said that, in those days, things were different. Civilians would gravitate toward the male officers, she said. And in the Police Academy, she would hear comments from people who didn't support women in law enforcement. She doesn't come across that anymore, she said.

When asked why she decided to become a police officer, Stidger said that she's passionate about helping children and those in sexual assault situations.

Like Stidger, Palmquist said things have changed a lot since she first joined the CHP in 1983.

"Initially, when I first joined, I tried to be one of the guys," Palmquist said. The CHP began accepting women in 1977. Back in the early 1980s, Palmquist was trying to prove herself, she said.

But now?

"I think women can just be who they are," she said. "Women are more effective when they're being who they are."

Other female CHP Amador Division officers include Cheryle Wilburn and Melissa Scobee. The Ione Police Department has Officer Pollie Pent, and the Amador County Sheriff's Department has Deputy Diana Fraser.

The CHP's upcoming seminars, for those interested in a career with the CHP, are May 13 and May 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the CHP Academy, 3500 Reed Ave. in West Sacramento. For more information, visit www.chp.ca.gov/recruiting/index.html or call (888) 4A-CHP-JOB (422-4756).