Carl
Thx for your long and detailed reply - hopefully others will find it worth
reading and reflecting upon.
Just one point - I am still hoping to see my first MI or ON police driver
wearing a seat belt.
Derek
Carl McLelland wrote:
> Derek,
> A well written letter, and I will reply 'on list'. You bring to light many
> valid points that I'm sure "Police Managers" would like to cure.
>
> I can't answer your basic question of why police quite often don't do such
> basic things as wear seatbelts, and why they so often commit acts in a
> police car that
> they would cite YOU for doing if they saw YOU do them in your own car.......
> Unfortunately, you have observed it, I have observed it, and I know the
> majority of the public has observed it. And however unfortunate it is, human
> nature being what it is, a person could see me a hundred times with my seat
> belt on and driving defensively, but what they would remember is the one
> time they saw an officer NOT wearing one or speeding or making an unsafe
> lane change, etc.
>
> I've got to be honest with you, some cops do, in fact, feel they are above
> the law. Not in the sense that the laws don't apply to them, but in the
> sense that they feel they can violate the law to do their job. I hope that
> makes sense to you.
>
> If I were to describe my style of law enforcement in a word, it would
> probably be "unconventional". Fully realizing that I can't save the world,
> my goal is to do the best that I can, eight hours a day. When I park the car
> I park the job... to the extent that is possible. This letter, in many ways,
> is part of the job and shouldn't be avoided. I believe that a large part of
> the job is "educating the public by example".
>
> As an example; lets say I stop you for speeding (a relatively common
> offense). If I walk up to your car window and start off with something like
> "Jesus Christ, Where's The Fire, Fellow!?!?!", what have I done but
> instantly placed you on the defensive. From that point forward, we will
> never have an avenue of communication. On the other hand, a couple deep
> breaths (to calm myself if necessary) calmly walking up and saying "Good
> afternoon, may see your drivers license, registration and proof of
> insurance, please?", I've made a reasonable request in a reasonable manner
> and hopefully started easing the stress that the driver (I've just stopped)
> is currently experiencing.
>
> My next standing rule: If your getting a ticket you DON'T get the lecture! I
> figure the citation is enough of an insult to you that you don't need me to
> gloat over it also. And if you get the "Doom and Gloom" lecture your
> probably gonna get off with a warning. But I'm getting off the subject.
>
> As I previously mentioned, that cockpit is very, very busy. Your not only
> listening to the radio for YOUR calls, your listening to everyone else in
> your district or beat. You know where they are, what they are doing and in
> most cases WHO they are dealing with. Just as a mother can hear an infant
> cry all the way across a noisy home, about 3 sylables out of your partners
> radio and you INSTANTLY know if he needs cover or not. Your watching traffic
> to make your visual speed estimates (assuming your working traffic) and
> listening to the audio doppler on the radar to confirm your visual estimate,
> your watching for drunk drivers and other offenders, your watching for
> suspicious vehicles and people, and generally just about anything out of the
> ordinary. Then all of a sudden something DOES catch your eye and you must
> make an instantaneous decision as to how to investigate further. That's
> mostly why you see the cop make the sudden lane change, slam on his brakes
> for no (apparent) reason, and do a lot of things your not expecting. In the
> time it took you to read the last sentence he/she has made about 20
> decisions on everything from 'what he has just seen', how to approach,
> officer safety, avenues of escape, how many people are there, any weapons
> visible, what to do if they run, where can they run, where can "I" get
> cover/concealment if necessary, what am I walking into and advise your
> dispatcher where you are and what you are doing. Oh yea, and miss all the
> cars around you! That's not a cop-out, that's a fact of life.
>
> Most officers are looking way, way out in front of them, making those
> decisions as soon as possible and dismissing things as not being illegal or
> suspicious.
>
> Back to your questions now that I've hopefully established a little
> foundation.
>
> Most of the cops you see who are NOT belted do so because they believe they
> need to be able to evacuate the car INSTANTLY if attacked. Unfortunately,
> staying in the car is a far, far better tactic. You have a 4000+ pound
> 'deadly weapon' right there at your right foot. If you have the authority to
> use deadly force (with a firearm) you certainly have the authority to use
> the gas pedal for the same thing. OR, should the need to retreat exist, The
> transmission goes into "R" just as easily as it goes into "D", and they will
> all do in excess of 50 in "R".
>
> Unfortunately, most of the forementioned officers don't believe it, or else
> they think they stand a better chance being ejected than staying strapped
> into the car.
>
> I've been an accident reconstructionist on the Sheriff's Office Major
> Accident Investigation Team for ten years now, and as such, have worked
> nearly every major injury/fatality that has occurred in our jourisdiction,
> not to mention being called out dozens of times over the years to assist the
> Highway Patrol on fatals. I've seen entirely too many....... I can give you
> all the graphic detail on vehicle dynamics and occupant kinematics in a
> crash. But I want to make one point: I have yet to work an accident where a
> person fared better because they were ejected during a collision, and I have
> yet to work an accident where seatbelts increased the severity of injury or
> caused death. (I'm not saying it couldn't happen; but I've yet to see it). I
> truly wish I could convince my co-workers of this because I really don't
> want to bury any more of them!
>
> Try this little exercise the next time your driving. Try and watch
> EVERYTHING going on around you and pick out every violation you can find. At
> the same time watch the road and everything at least 1000 feet ahead of you.
> At the same time watch for a suspicious vehicle and once you find him
> mentally keep track of everything he does so you can later document your
> "reasonable suspicion" for the stop and "probable cause for the arrest". At
> the same time listen to your car radio on an AM talk radio show. At the same
> time listen to channel 19 on the CB. At the same time be aware of everything
> around you. At the same time figure out how to take instantaneous action to
> avoid a hazard in front of you, trail brake and change lanes.
>
> So, to try and answer part of your questons; why do they drive so sloppily?
> They are mentally doing a thousand things at once, and unfortunately the
> driving is getting lower priority.
>
> One thing I'm surprized you DIDN'T mention: the excessive speed officers
> almost always seem to be driving! Several reasons for this, the most common
> being that they are responding to a call or covering another officer. If
> they are looking for drunk drivers they will often run 5-10 mph faster than
> the rest of the traffic to scan for signs of a DUI. However, the most common
> reason is that they get so used to driving fast they simply don't realize
> they are doing it.
>
> Several years ago I had a new Deputy District Attorney ride with me. I was
> fortunate in being busy, yet having enough time to explain to her what was
> happening. Many times, after hearing "both sides of the story" from the
> complainant and suspect I would turn and ask her what SHE would do: in
> effect make her make the instantaneous decision that would stand the test in
> court, with unlimited time to research case law and prior court decisions ad
> nauseum...... The "blank stares" and "indecisions" spoke volumes! I think I
> made the point, at least that night!
>
> I'm sure this letter raises more questions than it could ever hope to
> answer. In closing, as good as I am at accident reconstruction, wear your
> belts, drive defensively, always have an avenue of escape (from traffic),
> and watch your mirrors cause I'd rather challenge you on the track than work
> your accident!
>
> Carl McLelland
> CSRG #247 series 1 Sunbeam Alpine
> Washoe County Sheriff's Office
> http://carlynneracing.homestead.com/home.html
|