Tuesday, May 1, 2007

WEEKLY PAPER ARTICLE

please don't take this wrong (especially you, greg, lol) but i placed the following article in a local paper.  i am sure there will be some out there that feel that i am being petty.  maybe i am, but wait till you are on the "wrong end of the law" no matter how small the infraction, and see if you feel the same then...................

May I ask something about Police Officers? On my way to the library in Locust Grove today, a Locust Grove officer pulled out of the new Police Services building in front of me, and not only did he/she exceed the speed limit of 45 mph, but never once used a signal when turning. Had I been the one doing these things, I surely would have been pulled over. Don't get me wrong, not all officers are like the ones being accused of wrongdoings in the Atlanta area. Most officers are good people. But when did it become ok for them to break the very laws they are hired to uphold? They are not only constantly in the public eye and should be good influences, but they are being watched by our children, and what kind of message does their breaking their own laws send to these children?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with what you wrote, that we should not only enforce the laws, but follow and uphold those same laws.  That being said, the officer could have been enroute to a call at the time.  There are actually very few calls that justify lights and siren, but there are plenty that would benefit from a fast response time.  There are also statutes in place that allow a police officer to break many of the traffic laws without using lights and siren.  However, those conditions are usually for the enforcement of traffic violators...this doesn't sound like that kind of time.

When I was training, I made the statement several times that we are driving billboard of sorts and we are very visible as police officers.  Everything that we do on the road is under a microscope, so we need to really pay attention when we are driving.  Of course, there are boneheaded cops out there that just like to drive fast...and that is very wrong.

Greg