What an interesting day I've had with three pauses to consider this thread.
The first came when I went for groceries. As I pulled into the strip mall where the Albertson's is, I couldn't help but notice a police car with the full flashing-lights effect going. The officer was standing at the window of the car he'd blocked in. A routine traffic stop, I assumed, and went in for my groceries. As I came out some half-hour or so later, I noticed that all of tables outside the coffee shop where occupied and everyone was looking out in the same direction. I looked too and saw that the one officer I'd already forgotten about was still there and had been joined by several of his fellow officers. There were now three cars in full light-show mode (is it really necessary to have the lights on on all three cars?) and the officers were going through the suspect's car. I asked one of the people sitting there "What's going on?"
The first gentleman at the table responded something like "The cops pulled this punk out of this car, put him up against the car just like on TV, cuffed him, and locked him in the back of one of the squad cars. Now they're searching his car!" The second fellow added, "They've taken a bunch of stuff out too." And the lady at the table introjected, "Drugs, probably!"
Well, it really wan't my place, but I had to scold that woman right there. There's no reason to assume it's drugs. The whole thing could just be a misunderstanding.
The point is that a big crowd had gathered around to watch and those people were jumping to conclusions. People do that.
When people see police handcuff someone, they assume that that person is some sort of dangerous criminal.
Now, what if while our friend Kris here was standing beside the road in full public view with handcuffs on, a car drove by and the driver, attracted by the flashing lights, happened to glance over and see Kris in that condition? What if, a few days later, Kris finds himself being interviewed by that very man for a job? Do you think that what that man saw, Kris being handcuffed by the police, might influence his opinion about Kris and even his hiring decision?
The second thing that happened today that brought this thread to my mind was listening to Riders Radio Theater on the radio. Riders in the Sky cornered the evil vilian Slokum in the Sally B Diamond Mine. Too Slim, the Man of Many Hats, suggest that they could just throw a stick of dynamite in and that would collapse the mine and they'd finally be rid of Slokum for good. Ranger Doug, The Idol of American Youth, replied, "We could do that and nobody would be the wiser, but I belive that when you abrogate the rights of one man, you compromise the rights of all men. Blowing the mine and Slokum up would be the easy way... but it wouldn't be... The Cowboy Way!"
And the third reminder of this came while I was glancing at the Oregonian newpaper. Earlier this year, the Portland police department was shaken by a scandal involving many officers who had deliberately misentered timecards in order to collect overtime pay they did not deserve for hours they had not worked. The money came from a federal grant that the city had received to put more police officers on the streets. In fact, many officers conspired in this fraud. Now, anywhere I've ever worked, an hourly employee who deliberately and repeatedly submitted fraudulent time cards to get unearned pay, would be dismissed. But, because of their union, no Portland officer has been dismissed. The leader of the group was the most severely punished. He was demoted one whole rank. Now, he is suing the city for twenty-two million dollars claiming that he was improperly demoted. The police union is backing him. He says that the city defamed him. Well, if demoting him one rank for leading a consiracy that defrauded the city of upwards of a hundred thousand dollars is defaming, what do you think the officer does to a law-abiding citizen when he handcuffs that citizen in public during a minor trafic stop?
If police officers wonder why some of us worry about the potential for abuse, why they are not respected, maybe this sort of thing has something to do with it.
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 07-03-2000).]
), but I wouldn't put it past some of the "brain surgeons" I see on the nightly news. 
