Cop caravan cruises through Oak Harbor

A number of Whidbey residents, including law enforcement officials, were curious to know why a large number of Washington State Patrol vehicles were traveling on Highway 20 Tuesday morning. There were no incidents on the island, just training. Trooper Brandon Lee, a public affairs officer for the district, said troopers are doing exercises this week at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

March 23, 2010 3:47 pm

A number of Whidbey residents, including law enforcement officials, were curious to know why a large number of Washington State Patrol vehicles were traveling on Highway 20 Tuesday morning.

There were no incidents on the island, just training.

Trooper Brandon Lee, a public affairs officer for the district, said troopers are doing exercises this week at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Officials at neither the Oak Harbor Police Department nor the Island County Sheriff’s Office knew about the amassing of troopers on the island.

Sheriff Mark Brown was one of the people who noticed a procession of state patrol vehicles — numbered at 18 by one onlooker — on the highway and wondered what was going on. He knew that there were no incidents, so he correctly guessed it was some sort of training.