Posted on 11/01/2009 2:58:33 AM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
Stockton Police Chief Heinz Kopp is keeping his distance from what has become a pretty big dustup in this tiny Tooele County town. "It wasn't my decision to suspend [Officer Josh Rowell]," the chief said Monday. "That was the mayor's doing. I was left out of the loop on that one." The chief was referring to the fallout after Rowell cited Mayor Dan Rydalch's son for driving without a license.
The mayor could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
The City Council has scheduled a special Thursday evening session to discuss the matter, which has caused some of the town's estimated 600 residents to contact council members with questions.
Rowell said Tuesday night he was parked by the side of the road and was motioning vehicles over to check for license, registration and DUI when he realized a white car appeared to be evading the checkpoint on residential streets. He followed the sedan and pulled it over. The driver, Jared Rydalch, 29, could not produce a driver's license. Rowell cited him and told him he would pull him over again if he spotted him driving that night.
About 20 minutes later, Rowell found the police chief in the mayor's pickup. "You could tell just the way the mayor's hands were flying, the mayor was upset," Rowell said. When the officer approached the pair, Rowell said the mayor fired him. "Are you the one that gave my son a ticket?" Rowell recalled of the conversation.
"I want your badge tomorrow morning."
The chief later informed his officer that the mayor, rather than firing Rowell, decided instead to suspend him without pay. The mayor had reportedly complained that the officer had acted rudely, Rowell said. "That's not true," Rowell said. "I'm confident I acted professional." Councilman Kendall Thomas characterized the suspension as "totally unfair." "What we've got is a good officer who was trying to his job and the mayor overreacting," Thomas said.
The mayor had not communicated to the council why he suspended Rowell. That's among the reasons the meeting was scheduled, said Councilman Mark Whitney. "We're trying to find out what happened," Whitney said. "We've had several citizens ask us about this. Some are upset about it."
At first, I thought this might be a simple case of the Mayor getting out of control to protect his son.
After reading this, I am not so sure.
I despise DUI checkpoints like the one this officer was conducting. I deplore communities that engage in these fascist stops where a government agent asks you for your “papers”.
If I did not have my DL on me, for whatever reason, and I was coming up to a checkpoint, I would also turn around or to a side street. There is nothing illegal about doing that. There is nothing illegal in driving without a license in most states.
This is another example of how this nation has allowed insane groups like MADD to erode our rights as free people.
Oh really? Don't quit your day job and start teaching law.
You are missing the point. The point is that what the police officer did was perfectly legal and what the “mayor” did was totally outrageous. The idiot should be impeached immediately. This is an example of the individuals in govt. and others in power thinking that the laws are just for everyone else and not themselves. I hope the city council has the power to right a terrible wrong.
Sounds like this guy won’t be a mayor much longer.
Stockton officer reinstated
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705340766/Stockton-officer-reinstated.html
Published: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 12:15 a.m. MDT
Here in PA, as long as you can produce the license within 15 days, there is no punishment for not having it in your posession.
Here is the code:
(d) Penalty.--Any person violating subsection (a) [posession of license] is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $200, except that, if the person charged furnishes satisfactory proof of having held a driver's license valid on the last day of the preceding driver's license period and no more than one year has elapsed from the last date for renewal, the fine shall be $25. No person charged with violating subsection (a) or (b) shall be convicted if the person produces at the office of the issuing authority within 15 days of the violation:
(1) a driver's license valid in this Commonwealth at the time of the violation; or
(2) if the driver's license is lost, stolen, destroyed or illegible, evidence that the driver was licensed at the time of the violation.
Perhaps I do know the law and you should close your piehole before typing.
I agree that the Mayor's actions were outrageous, but I disagree that DUI and registration checkpoints are legal, despite SCOTUS ruling.
He is correct.
In most states if you are driving without your license on your person you are given 24 hours to present it.
Cop will run your name and make sure it is not revoked and that you do in fact have one.
Einstein;
Most states are not PA. So your statement deserved ridicule. I know in my state if you do not have your license on you during a traffic stop, the officer can cite you on the spot and have you call someone to get your vehicle back to where it belongs or to have it towed to impound.
The issue of the legality of DUI or other checkpoints is totally legal weather you want it to be or not. I am perfectly comfortable to be stopped to have my abilities checked so that others who are not capable are dealt with accordingly. Driving is a priveledge based on responsibility, not a constitutional right.
If the case is the checkpoint was instituded to be looking for a murderer or illegals and someone drove up to it intoxicated, then his own stupidity on two counts is warranted action by the law.
We are all so teribly shaken if your busy legal schedule was ever interrupted by a checkpoint aimed at protecting you from those who can give a whit about you and your safety.
Good day, counselor.
correction; whether, not weather.
Why not?
It worked for Obummer.
You said without "A" license, not "your" license, a huge difference, so maybe you need to learn English first before typing jackass!
This mayor is something out of a banana republic or African turdhole.
He also fired someone he did not like, but then had the cops kick her door in searching for “stolen documents” - of course they found nothing. This was a mere lesson for someone who this freak wanted to punish.
This guy belongs in prison for this.
However, this is not the first time the mayor has suspended or fired an employee with whom he had a problem. Ellen Montague worked for the city of Stockton for 22 years until she says she was forced out by Rydalch. Montague says it was the last straw for her three years ago. Montague said,” Somewhere along the line something happened to him to make him a really bitter person.”Montague worked for the city for 22 years mostly as the town clerk. She says she got on Rydalch's bad side when he realized she was partial to the previous mayor. Montague said,” The first thing he did was tell me I couldn't get the mail, then he told me I couldn't answer the telephone, then he told me I couldn't talk to people when they came into the office.”
Montague says she never opposed Rydalch's political goals. Nevertheless, she says it got so bad the mayor got a search warrant in March of 2006. Three officers went to her home looking for stolen documents. No documents were found. Montague filed suit in US District Court for Utah against Stockton claiming Rydalch had violated her constitutional rights to be free from political retaliation and illegal searches.
Split hairs all you want. I am still right and Mazda77 was wrong.
OK, show us the 26 or more states where it is legal to drive without your license.
Do you live in Florida?
322.03 Drivers must be licensed; penalties.—
(1) Except as otherwise authorized in this chapter, a person may not drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this state unless such person has a valid driver’s license issued under this chapter.
(a) A person who drives a commercial motor vehicle may not receive a driver’s license unless and until he or she surrenders to the department all driver’s licenses in his or her possession issued to him or her by any other jurisdiction or makes an affidavit that he or she does not possess a driver’s license. Any such person who fails to surrender such licenses or who makes a false affidavit concerning such licenses commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(6) A person who is charged with a violation of this section, other than a violation of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), may not be convicted if, prior to or at the time of his or her court or hearing appearance, the person produces in court or to the clerk of the court in which the charge is pending a driver’s license issued to him or her and valid at the time of his or her arrest. The clerk of the court is authorized to dismiss such case at any time prior to the defendant’s appearance in court. The clerk of the court may assess a fee of $5 for dismissing the case under this subsection.
Almost all states have a provision that if you are stopped and your do not have a driver's license in your posession, any possible fine (for the lack of license) that may be given at the time, is eliminated if you can produce a valid driver's license within a certain period of time.
Go check your vehicle codes.
Driver must be licensed...yes.
Driver must have license in posession....no.
Keep reading, you will see that if the person can produce a valid license within a certain period of time, there is no penalty for not having it in your posession.
As you can tell by how the above is worded, I think it is wrong, no license don't whine about getting a ticket.
other than a violation of paragraph (a) of subsection (1),
Right. Only if a valid DL has not been issued to you.
If you can produce a valid DL, even after the stop, there are no penalties.....even in Florida where you live.
So, ya wanna come on down and try it? The point is mute since the whiny subject was just pissed he got caught trying to run around one so he went to his daddy.
It's for the chirrens!
We do not know the nature of his 'evading' the checkpoint. It must have been sufficient for the officer to pursue and pull him over.
However, the son was not drunk and simply could not produce a driver's license. A non-infraction of the law....providing he actually had a valid DL at home.
The Mayor is an ass, agreed. However, there was no law broken here.
No, you said it was not illegal to drive in many states without a license.
That’s incorrect.
Don't start teaching law yet.
A minimal penalty (having to show a license to the proper authorities is a penalty of sorts--certainly a huge inconvenience) is not the same as "legal" or "not illegal".
Here is the Republic of Georgia, I appreciate our police setting up roadblocks. They do so almost on a daily basis.
Why? They catch illegal aliens driving without a license or operating an unregistered vehicle.
the police confiscate the vehicle and then sell it at an auto auction. Then the criminal alien is checked to make sure they are in the US legally, if not they are turned over to ICE.
Check this link and see how many people are driving around without a license and THEN you will see the problem we face here.
http://www.gwinnettcountysheriff.com/asp/docket48hr.asp
in florida, they can write you for not having the license in posession, which is reduced to $10 costs if you produce the license within a certain time period. so yes, you’re right that the state can cite you for not having the license in posession, and many will, but they also run your name to see if you have a current dl. the requirement is a throwback to a time when cops could not use computers in their cars or at dispatch immediately to check on a dl. it could honestly go away and few would notice, except those who insist that all citizens must carry papers at all times.
So you can’t rightly state that the son ever had a license, can you? Any police department should be able to connect with State DMV to check if the offender did have a valid license. If not, then he should be cited for “driving without a license” or would you prefer to having him cited for “driving without a license in possession”. Why don’t you let the court settle this and then you will see if he indeed did have a license, instead of mouthing off.
You are wrong.
You do not have to posess your license in many states to drive.
No, most states will drop the fine if you produce a valid license.
It is not illegal to drive without a license in your posession.
You would have been right at home in Nazi Germany with the SS asking you for your papers.
If the "friendly officer" will do that, why carry a DL to begin with?
I checked Florida code and it clearly states that if you produce a valid license, the fine is reduced to zero.
Thank you for re-stating what I already posted. Imitiation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Regardless, I still have an issue with police checkpoints to look for insurance, licenses or drunk drivers.
There is no requirement, in most states, to posess the license while driving as long as you have a valid license.
We carry a DL because we have been conditioned to do so and are asked many times to produce it (when writing a check, or getting on a plane, etc.
No, you indicated you did not need to have a license; not just possess one or have one on your person.
That’s the confusion.
No confusion, just backpeddling by some who shot their mouths off.
Here is what I originally said:
If I did not have my DL on me, for whatever reason, and I was coming up to a checkpoint, I would also turn around or to a side street. There is nothing illegal about doing that. There is nothing illegal in driving without a license in most states.
As you can see, I was clear about having a DL on your person.
If somebody wants to parse the paragraph and look at the last sentence without context, then I submit they are as scummy as Bill Clinton.
You made it sound like you did not need to possess a license at all.
Stockton, Utah - a VERY small town.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 443 people, 155 households, and 113 families residing in the town. The population density was 468.8 people per square mile (182.0/km²).
This place has a Chief of Police AND an officer?
Most places that size use the County Sherriff and pay a fee for ther officer.
An interesting note, the State of Utah pays a bounty for nailing DUI. $50 to the officer, last I heard.
This is a hot button issue for many, on both sides.
In a quick check to get the population values, I was amazed to see the number of lawyers specializing in DUI law in UT.
the fine was zero but they still got me for costs of some administrative whatever.
Here in Utah you can be cited for not having a license in your possession but by law the citation is removed by showing a valid license to a judge.
Don’t know why it is even required. The officer can do an ‘instantaneous’ check on the spot. Why is a license required?
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