SALEM, Ore. – Michelle Pratt’s on her first patrol shift back, and her husband, a sergeant, is tagging along.
He requested the assignment because he needs to be there as much as she needs him, a twinge of guilt still gnawing at him for what happened last May.
Jake Pratt couldn’t have changed the outcome. No one could have.
But at least the Salem police officer could dictate how she returns to the line of duty after being shot four times during a traffic stop.
The wounds are long healed. It’s the scars they can’t see that the couple are concerned about during the first shift back on Dec. 2, 2019.
She tries to avoid possible psychological triggers as she makes that first traffic stop, pulling over a different model and make of vehicle and choosing a different location.
