I'm not sure whether to just laugh or to express my gratitude at the "apparently" diminishing rate of serious crime in my home county. For at the bottom of page ten in Monday's Independent Florida Alligator newspaper is a "Most Wanted" ad, showing a mug shot of a 32 year-old man. The horrible crimes for which he is wanted and the ad and his picture posted? "Resisting Officer Without Violence, False ID Given To Law Enforcement Officer and Driving While License Suspended 2nd Offense." A phone number is given at the bottom of the posting for any snitch inclined to turn the poor loser in.
Now I have a theory concerning the police and our society's level of criminal activity. I believe that, regardless of how "criminally" people are behaving, the police are going to get in their quota of citations and arrests. If the community were suddenly to stop all felonious crimes, and even desist from serious misdemeanors, the police would be handcuffing people and hauling them in for jaywalking or loitering. Wait, come to think of it, they may already be doing this for loitering. Night after night, on my way home from work, I see a number of police cars parked at one of my local public parks (which has no closing times). I wonder what would happen if, some night, I were just to pull in to the park, park my car, get out, and just go sit on a park bench to gather my thoughts. I wonder how long before they slapped the 'cuffs on me! Or if I escaped their grasp, would my picture grace the next day's paper? What's really sad is that, a few years ago, I would have regarded this as a paranoid rant if I heard it coming from someone else's mouth. Now I'm not so sure. I know in my heart that the police are protecting me from criminals who would do me harm. But I also feel that many of our police regard me (and others in general), not as a citizen under their charge to protect, but rather as a prospective arrest to be plucked "out of the crowd". This makes them seem more like predators than protectors. The fact that police testimony during trials is usually accepted without question by juries just increases my disquiet.
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«But I also feel that many of our police regard me (and others in general), not as a citizen under their charge to protect, but rather as a prospective arrest to be plucked "out of the crowd". This makes them seem more like predators than protectors. The fact that police testimony during trials is usually accepted without question by juries just increases my disquiet.»
ReplyDeleteWhere this becomes most obvious to me (well, apart from the times when I read about their using a Taser inappropriately (which is... almost always)) is when I consider traffic tickets, and traffic court.
In traffic court, the burden of proof is reversed: you have to prove your innocence, in effect. Specifically, the officer's testimony is considered sufficient evidence of your guilt in almost all cases.
When you think about it, you realize that it's sort of necessary for it to be that way, or else traffic court would simply go away: the officer seldom has evidence that you tailgated, ran a red light, or made an illegal turn. She saw you, and she says so, and there it is. You say you didn't, but what does that matter? We trust the officer; we do not trust you.
The problem, of course, is that that means that any officer can stop you and ticket you for anything she wants to at any time... and there's nothing you can do about it. You'll be convicted. You have no defense, even if the charge is entirely made up.
One time, in Wheaton, MD, I came up to a red light on a day when it had just started snowing. There was a police car stopped at the light, and I wanted to turn right. There was plenty of room to the right of the police car, so I pulled to the right, stopped, then turned right. The police officer turned behind me and pulled me over.
It was a one-lane road, he said, so I was not allowed to pull alongside him. He ticketed me for "Negligent Driving", saying that by doing what I did, I posed a hazard to both of us. And, of course, we couldn't see any lane markings because of the snow.
I went back in a couple of days, when the road was clear, with a measuring tape. I measured the lanes. I measured my car. I found a police car and measured it. I went to court.
In court, the officer repeated what he'd said to me at the stop. I produced drawings, with measurements, that showed that in order for my car to fit, even with no room to spare, the officer's car had to be 2/3 into the oncoming traffic lane. In fact, there was plenty of room to spare, so the police car had actually been entirely in one of the oncoming traffic lanes. My car was properly in its lane, legally. Further, it was under complete control and never a danger to anyone.
The outcome? I was found guilty. WTF?
But, as with everyone who came before me (including one who'd plead guilty!), my fine was cut and the points were waived. At that point, what was I going to do? Appeal, for a $30 fine? I paid it, grudgingly, and left.
The system is rigged.
And, of course, when the consequences are worse than they are for traffic court, we're really in trouble.
But, as I say, waddya gonna do?
I have never been afraid before to go out alone at night for fear of being assaulted by a criminal. But I am now afraid of going out alone at night because of the overwhelming police presence and their proclivity to be overly suspicious. I have lived in Gainesville since 1977 and I have never seen it this bad. It reminds me of the great old Arthur C. Clarke futuristic short story "Pedestrian", where an individual is hauled away just for taking a walk!
ReplyDeleteIt also gives me appreciation for how ordinary Iraqis must feel about the American "police" presence over there.