For Patterson, being a cop was a dream come true

As a child, Jim Patterson always looked to police officers with a level of reverence most youngsters bestow on those who choose to wear the badge.

The combination of the sharp uniform, shiny badge and flashy squad car always seemed to impress him.

It just never occurred to him that he would spend more than 30 years of his life wearing the same badge he respected so much.

During a ceremony Friday evening, the Mountain Home Police Department honored Police Sgt. Jim Patterson for his lifelong service to the community he called home.

A native Texan born in the border community of Uvalde, he grew up in Georgetown, north of Austin. Although he got to know many of the community's police officers, he never gave much thought to one day joining them. College topped his priority list, and he earned money for tuition working with his father's construction company during the summer months.

But it always seemed the West called to Patterson as he grew. His family spent its summers vacationing in the region with an uncle stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base and his mother's parents living in Colorado. This "western exposure" fueled his lifelong love of hunting and fishing. By his junior year of high school, he planned to spend his life out here.

After high school, Patterson attended Boise State University, majoring in forestry and wildlife management. Realizing he'd need to switch colleges to finish that four-year degree, he changed his major to criminal justice, setting his future career into motion.

Fate seemed destined to keep Patterson in Idaho. During his last semester at Boise State, a fellow classmate working with the Idaho State Police sent him a note regarding a job opening with the Mountain Home Police Department. He immediately jumped at the opportunity.

"I came down and interviewed, and they said, 'Here's your job.' That's all there was to it," he said.

On Dec. 1, 1976, Patterson started his 33-year career with the city's police force. He began on the department's mid-shift, which meant patrolling the streets in the early morning hours when bars are at their peak with a greater likelihood of alcohol-related incidents.

His first night on patrol was vastly different from the hands-on, post-academy training course rookie officers must complete under the direction of a senior officer.

"(The officer) gave me the keys to the car, gave me my car and says, 'Here's your district. Now go out and do police work'," Patterson said.

He admitted feeling a little apprehensive that first night.

"I had an idea of what to do, but as far as actually going out and doing it and not having the second officer in the car I was pretty nervous," the police sergeant said.

Although Mountain Home changed as it grew over time, the types of incidents the police sergeant faced never did. He still dealt with the occasional bar brawls, frequent drunk drivers, mischievous teens and the regular domestic disturbances.

What did change was police technology, he said. Computers replaced pen and paper as the tools he turned to each day to deter and fight crime.

"When I first started, my idea of a police officer was one who was the biggest and baddest to go in and take care of things," Patterson said. Today, a well-rounded person with a combination of brawn, education and technical know-how tend to fit this mold.

Thinking back on his career, Patterson found it tough to highlight any single case or incident that stood out over the thousands of others. He admitted his favorite ones always involved happy outcomes, especially instances where people were never expected to live. They included the times where he performed CPR to resuscitate near-drowning victims and the car crashes where people walked away unscathed or fully recovered after time in the hospital.

"You deal with so many negatives all the time," he said regarding his years on the force. "(When) you have to go deal with a bad situation like a car crash... or near-drowning and you're able to pull them through and they make it, that gives you a lot of self satisfaction."

During his career, Patterson never forgot one important fact: He always lived with the spectre of death. He knew every routine traffic stop or domestic disturbance could instantly turn violent.

"You just take it as part of the career you chose," he said.

Training and the correct mental attitude kept Patterson ready to react in those situations, ensuring he always returned home to his wife, Nina, and their sons, Patrick and Brady, every day.

Taking another look back across his years of service to this community, Patterson never regretted the day he accepted the responsibility that came with his badge.

"There was never a day that I did not want to go to work, and that takes into account all the shift work," he said. Despite the long hours and time away from family, he developed lasting friendships with his fellow officers and served on outstanding teams that made his service to the community personally rewarding.

"It was just that self satisfaction of going in there and helping other people" that made it all worth it, he said.