The Stupid Vault
The longer I live the more ignorance I see.
A person runs a red light while trying to get to the hospital to see his wife's dying mother. Such things happen daily. Most of the time no one sees them do it and there are no repercussions. Sometimes another driver sees them much too close and both drivers die as the result. And then there are the times a patrolman sees it and attempts to enforce the law.
The driver was a professional football player. He says he slowed down to make sure nothing was coming and then ran the red light. OK. Admission is good for the soul, and brands him eligible to receive a ticket. But he apparently does not respond to the red, white and blue lights flashing behind him and proceeds on to the hospital parking lot.
There the patrolman begins the ticket writing process only to be harassed by the errant driver protesting that his mother is dying. She is not, but that is irrelevant at this point. What is relevant is that the errant driver attempts to move on into the hospital without waiting for the patrolman to be finished doing what he is sworn to do. So the patrolman tells the errant driver to stop or be taken to jail.
Watching this whole scene unfold time and again on the morning news, I still am dumbfounded. Dumbfounded by the sheer arrogance of the errant driver. Arrogance that pushed him to break the law in the first place and arrogance in that he refuses to accept the blame in the second. All his conversation is directed to his mother dying.
OK. Now wait a second. It was his wife's mother, not his. His wife went on into the hospital and arrived in time to be with her mother when she died.
Errant driver continues to wail and wait. Is he really that dumb? Do what the policeman says, dumbass, take your ticket, say I'm sorry, and get your ass on into the hospital. But no, he has to keep on his tirade that his mother is dying. To the exclusion of any common sense.
And as a result, he was too late to be there when his MOTHER-IN-LAW died.
Just plain ignorant.
But, wait! There is more to this saga.
The Plano Police Department has placed the officer on administrative leave, pending investigation of HIS actions during the contretemps. I seldom use the term, but, WTF? The officer was doing his job. He even told the errant driver that if the driver had stopped and told him what was going on, he would probably have released him with no ticket no nothing. And I can tell you from my own personal experiences that the policeman would probably have run interference for him, to boot.
But to be placed on administrative leave because you did your job? Did it in a creditable and straitforward manner? Did it with due deference to the offender?
Sure, the apology and condolences for his mother-in-law delivered by the patrolman were nice, as was the apology by the Plano Police Department. But I never heard the Department say the patrolman was doing his duty, that the errant driver was wrong in his actions--but I'll bet a dollar to a donut that that citation will be quashed. And that would also be --IGNORANT.
This whole thing is more in keeping with the Keystone Kops. A man does his job, one that he was sworn to do, and has been excoriated by his own superior officers.
I give a huge THUMBS UP for the officer.
And the reverse for both the errant driver and the Plano Police Department administration.
Jesus, what's next? The stupid vault has been broken open andthere is more to come.
A person runs a red light while trying to get to the hospital to see his wife's dying mother. Such things happen daily. Most of the time no one sees them do it and there are no repercussions. Sometimes another driver sees them much too close and both drivers die as the result. And then there are the times a patrolman sees it and attempts to enforce the law.
The driver was a professional football player. He says he slowed down to make sure nothing was coming and then ran the red light. OK. Admission is good for the soul, and brands him eligible to receive a ticket. But he apparently does not respond to the red, white and blue lights flashing behind him and proceeds on to the hospital parking lot.
There the patrolman begins the ticket writing process only to be harassed by the errant driver protesting that his mother is dying. She is not, but that is irrelevant at this point. What is relevant is that the errant driver attempts to move on into the hospital without waiting for the patrolman to be finished doing what he is sworn to do. So the patrolman tells the errant driver to stop or be taken to jail.
Watching this whole scene unfold time and again on the morning news, I still am dumbfounded. Dumbfounded by the sheer arrogance of the errant driver. Arrogance that pushed him to break the law in the first place and arrogance in that he refuses to accept the blame in the second. All his conversation is directed to his mother dying.
OK. Now wait a second. It was his wife's mother, not his. His wife went on into the hospital and arrived in time to be with her mother when she died.
Errant driver continues to wail and wait. Is he really that dumb? Do what the policeman says, dumbass, take your ticket, say I'm sorry, and get your ass on into the hospital. But no, he has to keep on his tirade that his mother is dying. To the exclusion of any common sense.
And as a result, he was too late to be there when his MOTHER-IN-LAW died.
Just plain ignorant.
But, wait! There is more to this saga.
The Plano Police Department has placed the officer on administrative leave, pending investigation of HIS actions during the contretemps. I seldom use the term, but, WTF? The officer was doing his job. He even told the errant driver that if the driver had stopped and told him what was going on, he would probably have released him with no ticket no nothing. And I can tell you from my own personal experiences that the policeman would probably have run interference for him, to boot.
But to be placed on administrative leave because you did your job? Did it in a creditable and straitforward manner? Did it with due deference to the offender?
Sure, the apology and condolences for his mother-in-law delivered by the patrolman were nice, as was the apology by the Plano Police Department. But I never heard the Department say the patrolman was doing his duty, that the errant driver was wrong in his actions--but I'll bet a dollar to a donut that that citation will be quashed. And that would also be --IGNORANT.
This whole thing is more in keeping with the Keystone Kops. A man does his job, one that he was sworn to do, and has been excoriated by his own superior officers.
I give a huge THUMBS UP for the officer.
And the reverse for both the errant driver and the Plano Police Department administration.
Jesus, what's next? The stupid vault has been broken open andthere is more to come.
posted by tanstaafl | 12:10 PM
7 Comments:
The officer who did this works for the DALLAS Police Department. The officer who intervened when it became clear that the driver's mother-in-law really was dying was a PLANO officer. The PLANO officer is not on Admin Leave. The DALLAS officer is the one in hot water here, not the PLANO officer.
Sure. I know now. But at the time the post was written the media was going back and forth between the two. Makes no difference who he works for, the officer who made the stop was correct in every respect. The errant driver was wrong in every respect. The chief of police who suspended the officer is wrong in every respect as is the idiotic councilwoman I saw on the news this morning calling for the officer's resignation.
Even the officer has now made a mistake by seemingly agreeing with the suspension.
As I said, the Stupid Vault is wide open and all kinds of people are falling into it, by condemning a man who simply did his job competently.
Hi Tanstaafl. You may remember that I volunteered for a while with a FD, in a purely administrative capacity. Part of what I did was read articles and releases of information that would be helpful in the education part of things. I'm good at research, even if it may not seem like it, and even though I'm normally not very concise (haha), I outline points pretty well if I have to. :)
Every study completed regarding response time and safety concluded the same thing--excessive speed during emergencies very minutely increased arrival time and more often than not decreased it due to corrective actions in driving and accidents caused by failure to perform corrective maneuvers properly (that wouldn't have been necessary had excessive speed not been a factor). This was particularly important in vehicles with unevenly distributed weight, and we've unfortunately in the fire service seen too many deaths in tanker trucks as a result.
We usually call it tunnel vision, or an adrenaline rush. What we tend to not realize is that adrenaline rushes can also drop blood sugar and lead to irrational behavior, sometimes "heroic", and sometimes fatal. And it happens even to those of us who never get behind the wheel of an emergency vehicle. When life throws us something emotional, we think the entire world is supposed to stop to accomodate us. And we get behind the wheels of vehicles with the power to kill.
You are right. It's stupid, and although I don't agree with how the officer handled it according to initial reports, I also have to wonder what the reaction would be if rolling through that stop had caused an accident that resulted in another death.
People do things like this all the time. Late for a meeting? Speed and ignore traffic stops that will slow you down. Late for work? Late for breakfast time at the drive through? Late for an exam? Late for an eye appointment? Well, hell, the world should stop and everyone should get out of your way.
Whenever there is an emergency, that's when we NEED to stop, and think, and exercise caution...because someone needs us and we need to get there safely. People for some reason think it shows more love to drive erratically and in an unsafe manner, though. We see it in individual drivers every day, and we see it with emergency vehicles almost every day. When you stop to think about it, it's amazing there aren't more fatalities.
You have GOT to be kidding. You're defending someone in a case of blatant racism. If that were me in that situation, a white woman, the officer would have given me an escort. But because it was a big black dude driving a nice car, the officer perceived a threat.
and you're missing the point....the father-in-law, because of this, was not there when his WIFE died. The man told the officer what was going on, the nurse came out and told the officer what was going on, and he still drug his feet. I saw the videotape. Did you?
I saw no racism at all. I saw an officer attempting to do his job and a lawbreaker attempting to obstruct him in doing so. Where is the racism in that? You see a big black man. I see a driver so juiced up in his own desires that no one in the world makes a difference to him. Hell, yes, go ahead and run that red light. Run that other stop sign also, the one that no one else seems to have seen.
Yes. I saw the videotape when first broadcast and God knows how many more times that day. And each time just added to the very stupidity of the driver. Hell, if he had shut his mouth he would have probably gotten off Scot free--and been there when his mother-in-law died.
Where did the officer perceive a threat? I sure didn't see it. I saw the driver resisting and that more than anything else told me that he was not in complete control of his emotions. When you get into a vehicle it is a great idea that your attention be on your driving, not on all the other distractions that may be around.
If the officer was like me, the shouting the man was doing meant that the officer had to get control of the situation. He did. I feel no remorse for the person you portray as the victim. He caused the whole thing himself.
apologies for the snark, tansaafl. I know many people who will comment to no end on something they've not even seen. I'm glad you're not one of them.
What you saw in the video was completely opposite of what I saw, even though it was the same footage. It amazes me that though we are all people, we can see the opposite.
I'm not too surprised, Laurel. Everything we see and hear is shaded by what we have seen and heard in the past and how we interpreted it then. The political makeup and social views each of us develop throughout our lives influence all our senses.
I don't mind disagreements. That is how we grow and live and learn that others may disagree with us and still not dislike us. That is what makes for a horse race, and a good blog.
Thanks for your comments--and keep them coming.
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