Yes. Pending the outcome of the investigation. This isn't complicated. It's due process and most people think that's desirable. As I said before, that's where we disagree. You are fine with ruining people's careers and finances without an investigation, I'm not. On the face of things, this seems like pretty open and shut case. If true, the investigation will be short. All the more reason to do things properly.
We don’t just “disagree”. You don’t know the definitions of words. You FEEL a certain way and facts are not a part of your world.
I’ve not asked for anyone’s career to be ruined. Feel free to point out the EXACT place I did that. Quote it. You won’t be able to. A suspension without pay is not getting fired.
It’s what the entire public that officer supposedly serves has to do when they are so stupid they run over a bicyclist while texting.
Not to mention the idiot in the cop car was a complete douche. His first words aren’t “let’s call an ambulance” they’re “you’re fine”. Because he knew he was wrong and doubled down by being an *******. SuperTrooper Douchebag material there. Couldn’t even admit he ****ed up when he ran over a cyclist. Standard attitude. He was right, the cyclist was wrong.
If you make sure he has points pulled from his driver’s license like anyone else and enjoys years of higher insurance rates, you’re getting closer to having him treated like the rest of the people he feels he’s better than.
Attempted vehicular homicide sounds good for the lead charge, considering he’s on the front line of telling people to get off their damn phones while driving. He doesn’t get a pass because he has a blue uniform and drives a taxpayer funded car newer than half of his served public.
Like I’ve said before, pay him $150K a year, make him study law to even have the job, and carry his own personal liability insurance, and remove the legal barriers to suing him, and we’ll call him an equal Citizen with a “tough job”.
Until then, he’s just a douchebag who immediately went to the “Oh, you’re fine” line the second he came out of the vehicle instead of reaching for the mic for an immediate ambulance roll.
I hope the Judge makes the department publish what the conversation on the cell phone was about.
As a former dispatcher I’d put $100 down that it wasn’t sensitive work information and wasn’t necessary while he was driving.
If he deleted it, he should go to jail for destroying evidence.
Cities want cheap cops. They get them by paying poorly and shielding them from prosecution and more importantly, professional civil liability.
I’m all for a highly trained, highly paid, police force that carries its own personal liability weight. Paid well enough they can afford the same phalanx of personal lawyers Doctors buy themselves.
I’d respect that a lot more than the never ending stream of “paid leave” and investigations that lead to nothing anywhere near the nightmare any other Citizen finds themselves in if they do the exact same things.
The legal protections give a false sense of superiority that oozes from a number of departments.
And just a note while we’re at it: What morons need more than five minutes to investigate that crash with the video evidence? Any other crash you’re luckily if they take five minutes to determine fault and hand out tickets. This whole “the investigation must run its course” in a case like this one is clearly bull.
Around here with REAL crimes the victim is silly told to go to a website and fill out their own police report. It’s not like most departments are spending large amounts of time on the actual job anymore... “fill out a report when you get home and give it to your insurance” is what? 30 seconds of actual investigative work?
If that’s all we get, that’s all he gets. Why not? It’s not a case of he-said or something controversial or difficult. Tell his union rep he ran over a bicyclist with his cruiser while texting on his phone and hand him a pile of tickets and an attempted vehicular manslaughter charge for his standing in the community as an expert on what happens when people text and drive. Done. Ten minutes, tops.
This one isn’t some stupid “thin blue line” crap. He ran a cyclist over while texting.
Suspended without pay awaiting trial. Bail set at X. No protection from civil liability, the text isn’t official communications gear, he wasn’t using the company radio gear as trained, and he wasn’t on a call. He gets to pay for the damages to both the cyclist, his property, and the cruiser.
Just like anybody else who does that. Done.
