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 Review #4080074 |
| I saw your story "Invalid Item"  on listed on the Shameless Plug Page and since I'm a retired police officer it caught my attention. I hope you find my comments helpful.I'll try to comment on your essay each point at a time. 1) A police officer must have probably cause that an offense of some kind has occurred, or is about to occur, before he is allowed to arrest anyone, and in some cases he must have probably cause to even detain someone. In order for the officer to have followed the driver out of the store and question him at the car, he would have had to witness some action to indicate that the driver was impaired. Slurred speech, unsteady on his feet, bloodshot eyes. Or he would have had to smell alcohol on his breath. 2) At the car the officer offered what is called a Field Sobriety Test, which can include any numbers of activities such as walking a straight line, holding his head back, eyes closed, arms outstretched, then touch his nose with his forefinger. Standing on one foot is also used, but I have never heard of a requirement that the foot be raised either 8 inches, 6 inches, or any specific height. The test is failed if the offender fails more than one of those tests. In this case I can only go by what you wrote, but if the officer administered only one test-the raising of one foot-then an accurate reading of the field test is seriously in question. 3) I can understand why, as a bystander, you were upset with the officer's attitude and treatment of the driver. I hope that won't color your attitude toward the many, many, good professional police officers who help to keep us all safe. 4) The police officer added to his report that the driver did not wear a seat belt and he had no insurance is odd, because as you say, the man wasn't driving when the officer detained him. However, could the officer had seen him drive into the gas station? Either way, I don't see how it could have an effect on anything. I suppose some states have laws that require a driver to have insurance. I won't comment on this aspect of your essay since I have no idea how it impacts the case. 5) Yes, when a person is arrested the details of the arrest find their way into the newspaper. In virtually every town there is a reported assigned to the Police Beat, where they review all arrests for the previous 24 hours and most papers print something about the arrests. With the press's freedoms, they are not held liable for printing something like that even when the person is found not guilty later. Maybe someday the press will be fairer in their treatments and add something later stating the person was not convicted. It is a problem though, as many people will always think he did something wrong. My Comments: From what you wrote in your essay, I have to assume you are a close friend of the driver who was arrested, and here's why I think that. 1) The officer continued by asking the man to take a sobriety test, the man agreed willingly, as he knew he had neither drank anything or taken any drugs. How do you know what the man knew? 2) He was rude to the citizen and took him to jail. I know that J did not take the drugs because he requested the officer to take him to the hospital for a drug test, which later showed no drugs in his system. How do you know that J did not take drugs, and since ALL medical records are strictly confidential, how did you learn that the drug tests showed there were no drugs in his system? Especially since those types of test results take days before they're completed. 3) In the report the officer wrote J had no seat belt on; in his defense I tell you, he wasn’t even in the car, he was pumping gas. He also stated J had no insurance on the automobile; which is an out and out lie which can be proved that he in fact has liability insurance on the car. How do you know what the officer wrote in his report? An how do you know that J actually does have insurance? Sometimes a person does not have their proof of insurance with them. When a driver who does not have his insurance card says he does have insurance but doesn't have the card with him, how does the officer decide who is lying and who is telling the truth? In my experience, if a driver can't prove he has insurance at the scene, he is permitted to present proof at his hearing and that particular charge is dropped. Did this happen when J went to court? 4) The officer took J to the jail and the jailer told J and another witness that the officer was trying to set a state record for arrests made. People who are not under arrest are never allowed to accompany an arrested person into the jail, so you couldn't have been present when the jailer supposedly made those remarks. So I wonder how you can say what the jailer said. In my experience I have found that some cops will lie. Yup, it's true. Not often, and virtually never for personal gain, but yes, some police officers lie. But you must also know that other people lie as well. I have often found that an arrested person will minimize their fault when they explain to family and friends what happened. I'm not accusing anyone of lying in the instance, I'm just saying that if we're going to question what the officer's actions and statements were about, we should also question what J says happened, especially for those actions where you were not present. I was glad to see that you were bothered by this event enough to write about it. But I have to tell you, I'm always suspicious when a person who has had contact with the police can describe the officer's actions as all bad, and the civilian's actions as all good. Rarely is one person 100% at fault in these confrontations, and just as rarely are they 100% victim. I hope things work out for J, if that's what he deserves to happen. If the officer acted improperly than I encourage you to file a formal complaint with the officer's superiors. I know most people believe that those kinds of complaints go nowhere, but I assure you that all valid complaints are handled. Besides, how does the police department know they have a problem cop on their payroll if the public doesn't report the wrongdoing? I hope my comments have helped to explain some things. Be well, and be safe. Bikerider ~~Thank you for sharing your story.~~   My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Go Noticed."  My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .
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You responded to this review 01/25/2015 @ 3:15pm EST