According to The Death of a Ranger Shows Venerable Job’s New Hazards:
Park rangers now have a dangerous job. Crime is on the rise in many national parks, and rangers must assume the role of police officers — a task some are reluctant to accept.
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The nation’s rangers are more likely to be assaulted than any other federal law-enforcement officers, according to Justice Department statistics. In 2000, there were 99 assaults on National Park Service officers, compared with 55 on Customs agents, 55 on Drug Enforcement Administration agents and 25 on FBI agents.
Perhaps they need more Texas Rangers.
[L]egend records a Texas Ranger stepping down from a train in a riot-torn town and being met by the locals who said, “They only sent one Ranger?” His reply, “You only got one riot, don’t you?”
More seriously, Park rangers are dying, fighting drug smugglers and “coyotes” (illegal-alien smugglers) — most likely without putting a dent in either activity. For instance:
In all, the team captured 10 backpacks containing 492 pounds of marijuana. “That’s just nothing,” shrugs Mr. Jones, who says the rangers assume they’re catching a tiny fraction of the tons of marijuana moving through the park.
And lastly, on a less political note:
On Dec. 6, a park ranger in Arches National Park in Utah tracked a man armed with an assault rifle through the back country, and then called in the Utah Highway Patrol, who subdued the desperado with a dog. Two weeks later at the same park, five rangers were summoned to help police stop a semi tractor-trailer that had blasted through two roadblocks and was headed for the park entrance. Police had shot out the truck’s tires, but the driver kept rolling on the flats. “You guys will have to kill me. I’m not stopping,” he shouted into his CB radio. As the rangers braced for his arrival, the truck skidded to a halt four miles short of the entrance. A Utah Highway Patrol sharpshooter blew apart an air hose on the truck, causing its brakes to seize.
A Utah Highway Patrol sharpshooter blew apart an air hose on the truck, causing its brakes to seize. How cool is that?