"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday 17 November 2017

HELPFUL EXCHANGE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WHEN IS SERVICE NOT SERVICE....WHEN ITS ABUSE": 

Evelyn
Not sure what you stance on this story is but I can tell you mine.  

1. The posted limit is 60 km/h and he was clocked doing 110. Ignorance is no excuse - as you know. I am sure there are signs to indicate what the limit is at that area. Regardless, if the posted was 80 and he was doing 110... he should also be ticketed. 

2. The racing charge I have an issue with. I believe that Racing (or Stunt driving as some call it) should have some other actions involved to put it into that category. Being 50 km/h over the limit is not an indication of either racing or stunt driving - especially if you are a lone vehicle. However, the law is the law. Everyone that watches local news knows that these situations get you the impounded vehicle.  

3. His car may have been sent to junk yard. However, that may be where the local police put impounded vehicles and means nothing to the story. They did not "junk" the car. 

4. No license, no employment, legal fees, etc. are all part of the penalty. I find it hard to feel sorry for him to be honest. He may work hard but he did not think hard and he did not consider the consequences.

Too bad

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 17 November 2017 at 08:36

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I appreciate the prompt and matter of fact response.  Part I do not dispute, part I do and part 
I suspect is defence of an action for which there is none. 

You affirm the racing charge is not justified. You acknowledge some other action needed to be present
to lay a charge in that category. .. and you establish, for the rest of us, that charge led to impounding the vehicle and removing his licence which he needs to keep his job. 

My position is, that  charge was an abuse of power not unlike all the other abuses we are reading about today. 

A young person's rights were  violated. By a police officer. 

Your knowledge  suggests you are or were a policeman. You  would likely not have laid that charge yourself but you're not unaccustomed to defending those who do. 

Your offhand dismissal of the horrendous hardship as part of the penalty is not even remotely acceptable. 

And therein lies the problem. The police are officers of the law. They are not the law. 

Penalties are not decided by police officers. In court ,they are witnesses.  

There was no evidence of racing. 

He documented a lie. Deliberately. 

He abused his office to do harm. 

He's a policeman for God's sake. 

In my judgement, he  is not entitled to wear  the uniform. 

He should find himself one day standing at the side of the road, in splendid isolation, without his uniform. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Evelyn. That was totally an abuse of power, and it's legal. To make matters worse they all defend themselves and stand in solidarity with their "brothers/sisters"
when one of them gets into hot water, hiding behind their union like children instead of responsible men and women who are officers of the law. It's unfortunate, but we have more cowardly police officers than heroes out there with no leadership. I hope this poor guy gets a break.

Anonymous said...

"Your knowledge suggests you are or were a policeman. You would likely not have laid that charge yourself but you're not unaccustomed to defending those who do. "

Wrong. I am not now nor have I ever been a police officer. However, ignorance of the law is not an excuse and as a driving enthusiast, I know where the limits of the law sit.

Where you are wrong however is your assertion that the police are penalizing the young individual. Exceeding the speed limit by 50 km/h is an automatic suspension, vehicle impounding and a charge of stunt driving/racing. It is no different than the automatic 24 hour suspension of your license if you blow over 0.05 on a breathalyzer. The public as a whole (by electing the governments we have) has agreed to this level of automatic punishment.

No matter what age of the person doing the speeding, the same charges should be laid.