PAW PAW Mich. -- Flags were at half staff on Tuesday to honor Trooper Chad Wolf, who died in the line of duty. More than 3,000 people gathered on the east side of the state to say goodbye.
Trooper Wolf, 38, died on Friday after being hit while out on motorcycle patrol. He was struck by a driver hauling a trailer and was dragged for miles unknown to the driver. The driver is being cooperative with authorities and there's no word yet on any charges he may face.
Wolf leaves behind a wife and four children.
There have been 83 officers killed in the line of duty this year in the U.S., and 26 of them have been by gunfire.
Eric Calhoun, 27, has been a deputy for two years and he puts on his uniform everyday with the same mindset. "I think there's a thrill to it, a thrill aspect to it of not knowing what you're going to get into, and you're not doing the same thing everyday," said Calhoun.
While we rode along with him, he pulled people over for speeding and even had to take a man in for possible assault charges.
"For one, you have to enforce the law. That's what we are here to do," Calhoun continued. "People don't see it that way. They think we are out there to target them."
"When we show up on scene or we show up on any call that we're sent to, we get to people don't appreciate us being there."
He knows these regular calls come with their own danger, especially after seeing incidents like the officer who was shot in a Houston suburb while pumping gas and more recently the found officer shot to death in Illinois.
"People are aggravated at the uniform as opposed to the people inside the uniform. People don't see us as human."
Deputy Calhoun fought hard to become a police officer. His dad wasn't in the picture, and his mom died a drug addict when he was 17. "I grew up In Kalamazoo, on the north side of Kalamazoo, so I grew up in the streets."
But he'll tell you he didn't expect some of the precautions he has to take.
"I take different routes to work, because you hear comments of people who don't really appreciate what you do and people who are mad at you for doing your job, or feel you're out to get them, or make comments of coming to your house or looking up your information online to find out where you live at."
Despite the challenges, Calhoun's goal is to protect the citizens in his community and come home alive to the people he loves the most.
