By Nicholas Stix
[See: “Video of Austin, Texas Police Taking Down America’s Most Wanted Jaywalker, Amanda Jo Stephen.”]
jeigheff said...
Here's an Austin story for you.
A couple years ago, two young rowdy renters (mild Dave and wild Dave) lived at the end of our street. They succeeded in making the lives of their next door neighbors miserable with their loud weekend parties. I didn't care for their behavior either, but thankfully my wife and I weren't forced to live quite so close to them.
One night, one of these neighbors ("Ski", a lady who'd served in the military) called the police about the latest loud drunken party going on next door. A single Hispanic female police officer showed up. She took one look at the two dozen or so drunken partiers, and then told Ski that if SHE didn't pipe down, she'd arrest Ski! Needless to say, Ski was incredulous. The Hispanic female police officer eventually left, having been of no use in restoring peace.
This jaywalking story reminds me of Ski's experience. Before I make my point, I'll say that I am very hesitant to make a blanket derogatory statement about police officers, because of the good ones out there. But I think the police officers in both these stories have something in common: they'd rather get tough with people who haven't done a damn thing, rather than deal with someone who might actually give them some trouble. It's a form of bullying.
One of this article's comments got my attention: illegal aliens are responsible for many of Austin's traffic injuries. If this is true (and it probably is), then APD needs to turn its attention away from young female joggers and towards real criminals.
Hi Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving my post such prominence! I didn't think my neighbor's story deserved such attention.
After I wrote yesterday (Sunday, Feb. 23), I felt a little bad about identifying the gender (female) and racial background (Hispanic) of the ineffective police officer in my neighbor's story. But the more I think about it, it probably didn't hurt to include it. It shows that bullying and humiliation at the hands of APD can come from a truly diverse selection of officers.
I also know, and have known, some really decent people involved in law enforcement. I have no doubt that they would not approve of incidents like these.
Jeff