Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The Wheels of justice
So the other day, I pointed out the absurdity of a police office and the resultant arrest and charges in an incident in which a woman, (who WAS speeding) was arrested for failing to pull over on a VERY dark and lonely stretch of road at approximately 11 PM. Instead of pulling over immediately, she turned her emergency flashers on and drove slowly about a mile to a well lit and public parking lot.
The absurdity was compounded by the officers supervisors ("The sheriff's office supports our officer's decision in this matter.") ...and then the Sheriff himself chose to back the officer as well.... One statement made was the she was "defiant" after the officer (with good reason, not knowing why she did what she did) was angry that she didn't stop , and when she did, got into her face.........But even after getting an explanation, he chose to be unreasonable and arrest her because she would not be cowed. As far as I know, it is legal to be "Defiant" as long as one does not resist arrest. But the Sheriff apparently feels differently, as he used that for the explanation as to why things went as far as they did...
So the woman, Delrea Good, was in limbo for a few weeks. Until of course, the Prosecutor chose to look at the facts of the case, at which time, since she wouldn't plead or cooperate, he chose to drop the charges (The Prosecutor in that county works in lockstep with the Sheriff, generally)...but in this case, "Upon review of the circumstances of the incident as well as information learned after the incident, it was determined that a dismissal of the charges was in the best interests of justice" (in other words, the dashcam video didn't show her fighting or resisting the officer in any way....and she followed suggested procedure for anyone who doesn't feel safe when being pulled over by an officer in a dark area).
Thing is, while the wheels of Justice turned, and while this is the way that things should work, it NEVER should have gotten this far.While I do understand the Deputy being upset (not knowing what was happening), once the explanation was given, he should have ended it there. Instead, he escalated it. Which led to the Sheriff's office being forced to eat Crow: "After a review of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Good's arrest, the Porter County Sheriff's office supports Porter County Prosecutor Gensel's decision to drop the charges"
This is a good way for the Police and Sheriff to destroy the support of decent, honest citizens...
I still think that if there is a viable candidate come next election, I'm gonna support him, instead of David Reynolds.
ETA (8:04 PM): SO this case has made NATIONAL NEWS.
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4 comments:
Well so much for the claim that the prosecutor always rubber-stamps what every officer does. Like I said, if there was nothing to this, it would get dismissed. The system works.
Indeed. It does work.
And I was surprised that the Prosecutor didn't try to go farther. Her statement must have been truthful and was likely backed up by the dashcam. If there were any doubt, he likely would have taken it to trial (He's that kind of guy).
Again though, THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE GONE THERE IN THE BEGINNING. But people (even cops) are imperfect. THe fact that it did go as far as it did brings doubt to the deputies suitability to be an officer and the same goes for his supervisor and the Sheriff himself.
"The fact that it did go as far as it did brings doubt to the deputies suitability to be an officer and the same goes for his supervisor and the Sheriff himself."
Not to far from my take on the matter. Bullies with badges. Or maybe I said thug. Same difference.
-Moe
I had this happen to me late one night on a (busy during the day) undeveloped area road that was under major construction. To the right was another two lanes being constructed with no clear area to pull off. I put on my turn signal and drove perhaps an additional 250-300' to the untypical driveway of a used car light which kept the lights on all night. I pulled in, turned left and stopped to allow the cop a full view of me as he pulled in. I took my wallet out, put it on the dash and and put my forearms on the wheel with my hands forward and open. I have been around the track a few times and I wanted to be as non-threatening as possible.
The BLACK got out drew his weapon, pointed it at me and started barking orders.
We went through the open the window and put your hands out (silly, he could see my hands), through another few highly nervous orders shrieked at me to the reach over with your left hand, open the door and get out.
If I was part of the #blackliesmattermorethanthetruth crowd I may have already been ventilated but I continued with trying to defuse the situation by calmly suggesting that he stand there a moment covering me with his pistol while I stood still attempting not to get shot and he composed himself. He continued barking questions which I answered as civilly as possible as he wound down. I told him that I felt it would be crazt to stop on tat road surface in the dark.
He went from full tilt fear too an embarased demeanor in a short (seemed like 12 hours) time and we concluded our interlude with him giving me a verbal warning. I parted with the gentle (truly) gentle caution that if reacted so badly to a simple traffic stop, perhaps being a Deputy might not be the job for him.
Incidentally, I did not contest the fact that I had been speeding-- I truly did not know-- I had been rolling along an empty country road, staring ahead for danger and was not watching speed.
No moral to this tale beyond saying that in ANY potentially lethal situation you have SOME opportunity to defuse the other's anxiety and you should avail yourself of it.
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