Late soldier’s sister ticketed, misses event

The Lima News ^ | 5-02-09 | AP

[Slump Tester]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The sister of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq was ticketed for speeding and missed a ceremony awarding him a posthumous Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

The ticket was issued by a state trooper to 25-yearold Rebecca Davis of Cuyahoga Heights along Interstate 77 on Thursday despite her request for a warning and to call and confirm her situation.

The ticket was withdrawn about three hours later when a State Highway Patrol lieutenant went to the funeral home and apologized. A relative of Davis, who is a police officer, had called to complain about the ticket.

She was ticketed heading to an award ceremony for 21-year-old Spc. Brad Davis of Garfield Heights, who was killed last week in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq. Burial was planned for Friday

[Mojave]

How dare he do his job! How dare he ticket a speeder!!

[Mojave]

Maybe there should be separate speed limits for people who are running late.

[packrat35]

You stinking cops have a high flautin’ attitude that just turns people off nowadays. Ever wonder why more and more people can’t stand you. Keep reading your posts.

[Osage Orange]

Put down the broad brush, and back away slowly.

[Ditter]

That is a great idea! Like there are separate lanes for people who want to driver fast on the freeway.

[mkjessup]

I dislike cops and am proud of it
Perp attitude

Brown shirt attitude.

Enlist at your local ACORN chapter, you'll fit right in.

[mkjessup]

I did draw my own conclusions and I think the person who complained (if it was not her) had enough pull to get the apology. That is not right. Maybe getting a dying person to the hospital would be a legitimate excuse for speeding and the cop would probably have given her an escort but she wasn't doing that. I want you to tell me why getting to an event no matter how important it was to her (or anyone) should allow her to speed?

This isn't about 'getting to an event', this is about the wide discretionary authority that every cop possesses and exercises each and every day they are on duty. You can be assured that IF the driver in question had been a fellow officer with their badge tucked in next to their driver permit, or even in uniform, that the cop pulling her over would have heard the words "sorry I'm late to a funeral event" and would have said "please be careful" and/or "I will escort you with my lights on, please follow me".

Now do you think that such an exercise in the above hypothetical discretionary authority would be right or wrong?

It can be safely assumed that the degree of 'speeding' was not so excessive that it would have resulted in the driver being immediately taken into custody. There is a difference between merely exceeding the speed limit, and grossly exceeding the limit and placing the public at risk.

The fact is, people (cops included) speed every day. The majority of them are never detected, never pulled over, never cited with a ticket. But in this instance, we have the cop defenders and the law n' order yahoos all screaming "ticket her! ticket her!" while many of them will go out on the highway tonight or tomorrow and drive any damn way they want to, generally disregarding the precise speed limit that is posted. ("wellll it says 35, but what the Hell, I'm running 45, no big deal, nobody around, I know what I'm doing" - don't lie and say you've never thought something like that, let alone behaved on the road like that.)

You want to go by the letter of the law? Sure. OK, she should have adhered to the exact precise speed limit, come to a four-wheel stop at every intersection with a stop sign, signaled before changing lanes, and slam her for any and every infraction you can find, and while you do that, be sure to leave room for yourself because as sure as the sun comes up tomorrow, YOU will be next.

There was a time in American society when "Mr. Policeman" was a figure that invoked trust in everyone from little children who were taught that he was their friend, to adults who admired and respected them and supported them in every way possible. There are still officers today who are worthy of that trust and respect.

Unfortunately, the growing numbers of thugs and wannabe storm troopers who have adopted the mentality of some rogue cop 'enforcer' in a video game have tainted those who still serve honorably. Because of them, and because of the encouragement such individuals receive from the increasingly adversarial relationship between Washington and We The People, the police for the most part CANNOT be trusted anymore, until they demonstrate that they are worthy of that trust. That means purging their numbers of the Nazi-mentality bully-boys who see 'excessive force' as just a more efficient way to get the job done in time for coffee time.

I'm not a cop hater, far from it. I'm a jackbooted thug hater, and too damn many of them have infiltrated, infested and taken over what were once good upstanding police departments from sea to shining sea.

Look around, there's probably one of those departments not too far from you.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I was raised to repect laws and law enforcement people.

Then I got out into the real world, and started running into arrogant and sadistic psychopaths with badges.

If there is indeed an "us against them" issue, it originated with the cops.

If you expect me to bow down and believe that you no longer need toilet paper, think again, Officer Friendly!

[mkjessup]

See my #87

[mkjessup]

jackbooted thugs
Parrot

Nice to meet you Mr. Parrot, I knew you were a bird brain from your very first post.

[packrat35]

No, the ones here on FR are some of the worst. They defend anything about cops no matter how indefensible. The us vs them mentality is a thing to behold.

[jps098]

I was pulled over for not signalling on a road that only turned one way, making me and my late for my wife’s surgical appointment. When done, I looked in my rearview, and saw the officer pull back onto the road without signalling.

By the way, my wife said she heard the clicking of the signal, and I swore I signaled, but who is the judge going to believe; me or the cop raising revenue for the city?

[Ditter]

Thanks for your polite reply. I don’t like jackbooted thugs either even though I have not met any of them, I am sure they exist, if only because you say so. You don’t tell us what part of the US you are from so maybe that is the problem, that’s not to say there are none in Houston where I am. I have gotten a ticket or two and one I don’t think I deserved but it does not lead me to suspect that I got it from a jackbooted thug. Your attitude still makes me wonder what exactly you feel you have been targeted for.

[mkjessup]

Well FRiend Ditter, I don’t personally think I’ve been singled out or targeted for anything.

But when I read of the excessive force and excessive attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent with police departments, my position is that “if they (the cops) would do that to THAT fellow American of mine, they would do it to me.”

I’m all over the U.S., my original home ‘turf’ so to speak is Washington D.C. (suburban Maryland), and I’ve personally witnessed the yee-haw antics of the Prince Georges County cops, and they rank right up there (IMHO) with the worst of the New Orleans cops.

I’ve lived in Philadelphia (har har, need I say more?), West Virginia, Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and I’ve travelled through the mid West and West.

I consider myself an American, and every rogue cop is my adversary.

[Mojave]

Like there are separate lanes for people who want to driver fast on the freeway.

Better still. We could have separate late for funeral lanes, late for work lanes, need to get home and take a leak lanes...

[Mojave]

Enlist at your local ACORN chapter

Is that where you and the other perps go to spew about cops?

[Mojave]

They defend anything about cops no matter how indefensible.

Like writing a speeding ticket. The horror!!!

[mkjessup]

Enlist at your local ACORN chapter
Is that where you and the other perps go to spew about cops?

No, we meet at my place and laugh at you and your fellow mentally challenged nightstick wielders.

[mkjessup]

We could have separate late for funeral lanes, late for work lanes, need to get home and take a leak lanes...

And for you, a 'special' lane for your unique vehicle:

Tell your Mommy you REALLY want one for Christmas.

[Mojave]

Thanks for proving once again that cop haters are deranged.