A few threads in the last couple of days have made me reflect on something that is rapidly disappearing today, if not actually extinct in some areas of the country.
When I started in this business it was common practice to handle some traffic, or otherwise minor infractions in a manner that did not place a burden on resources, but still served the public interest.
What that really meant was, if a warning will do as much, or more good than a citation, write a warning. In the outfit I worked for, a warning counted the same as a citation on your yearly evaluation. Officer discretion was encouraged.
A case in point. I was driving through a small town in my assigned area. I pulled up behind a car at a stop sign and noticed the license plate had been expired for three months. I called the tag in to confirm it was expired.
Got the car pulled over. It was a fifteen year old piece of **** station wagon with a man driving and two dirty faced little kids in the back seat. There were two bags of groceries in the back.
I asked the guy for his license, and he said, "I'm sorry sir, I'm suspended because I don't have insurance." I went back to the car, ran the guy's information and, yep, he had been suspended for the last two weeks.
Now what I'm supposed to do at this point is find the kids' mother, or other responsible adult to come get them. Failing that, call child welfare and have them get the kids. Then I would impound the car and take the guy to the county jail to post bond. The car would remain impounded until it was insured and the license plate brought up to date.
In taking time to talk to the guy, I found out that he had lost his job when the construction company he worked for had gone under. His wife had left him, leaving him to take care of the kids who were not school aged. He had just started getting unemployment checks, and that was keeping the lights on, house heated, and keeping him from getting evicted but that was about as far as that money went. He told me he had only drove that day to go to the grocery store.
I went back to the car, got on the local radio, and called the local police officer and asked him if he knew this guy. The local officer said no, but then a deputy chimed in that he knew the guy. Said he was a good man but was having a long string of really bad luck.
I asked myself, "Jack, what's the best thing for those kids?"
I went back to the guy and said, "Buddy. I can't tell you you can drive your car home. I can tell you that I'm going to get in my car and leave."
That's what I did.
When I cleared the traffic stop the dispatcher told me to call the XO. I got to a phone and called him. He asked me why I hadn't hooked the car and taken the guy to the S.O.
I told him the story. He said "Good, hope the guy gets his life back together."
I had previously worked at a municipal police department. The guy that broke me in had started working at that P.D. two years before I was born.
The first thing he told me when we got in the scout car on my first day was "Boy, just because something's legal don't mean it's right. Just because something's illegal don't mean its wrong."
A long time ago we were peace officers.
When I started in this business it was common practice to handle some traffic, or otherwise minor infractions in a manner that did not place a burden on resources, but still served the public interest.
What that really meant was, if a warning will do as much, or more good than a citation, write a warning. In the outfit I worked for, a warning counted the same as a citation on your yearly evaluation. Officer discretion was encouraged.
A case in point. I was driving through a small town in my assigned area. I pulled up behind a car at a stop sign and noticed the license plate had been expired for three months. I called the tag in to confirm it was expired.
Got the car pulled over. It was a fifteen year old piece of **** station wagon with a man driving and two dirty faced little kids in the back seat. There were two bags of groceries in the back.
I asked the guy for his license, and he said, "I'm sorry sir, I'm suspended because I don't have insurance." I went back to the car, ran the guy's information and, yep, he had been suspended for the last two weeks.
Now what I'm supposed to do at this point is find the kids' mother, or other responsible adult to come get them. Failing that, call child welfare and have them get the kids. Then I would impound the car and take the guy to the county jail to post bond. The car would remain impounded until it was insured and the license plate brought up to date.
In taking time to talk to the guy, I found out that he had lost his job when the construction company he worked for had gone under. His wife had left him, leaving him to take care of the kids who were not school aged. He had just started getting unemployment checks, and that was keeping the lights on, house heated, and keeping him from getting evicted but that was about as far as that money went. He told me he had only drove that day to go to the grocery store.
I went back to the car, got on the local radio, and called the local police officer and asked him if he knew this guy. The local officer said no, but then a deputy chimed in that he knew the guy. Said he was a good man but was having a long string of really bad luck.
I asked myself, "Jack, what's the best thing for those kids?"
I went back to the guy and said, "Buddy. I can't tell you you can drive your car home. I can tell you that I'm going to get in my car and leave."
That's what I did.
When I cleared the traffic stop the dispatcher told me to call the XO. I got to a phone and called him. He asked me why I hadn't hooked the car and taken the guy to the S.O.
I told him the story. He said "Good, hope the guy gets his life back together."
I had previously worked at a municipal police department. The guy that broke me in had started working at that P.D. two years before I was born.
The first thing he told me when we got in the scout car on my first day was "Boy, just because something's legal don't mean it's right. Just because something's illegal don't mean its wrong."
A long time ago we were peace officers.
I told them that I only gave someone a warning once, and after that their butts were mine.
