Not that I haven’t been hung up on before, but my able assistant JJ warned me about this Monday telephone call in advance. I dutifully returned the message, though. The complainant started by saying “Why don’t your officers obey the law?” in that grating tone I know so well.
Here’s what had her steamed: on Saturday, she went to a local senior assisted living center. There was a car parked in a handicapped stall, with no handicapped parking permit displayed. She did what any right-thinking citizen would do: parked her own car to block the offender in and prevent an escape, then called the police.
An officer from our Southeast Team responded, and found that the offending vehicle had a handicapped permit laying upon the console. She did what any police officer of sound judgment would do: she declined to cite the vehicle. Why in the world would we issue a $100 ticket to someone who simply forgot to hang the tag from the mirror after parking at the assisted living center?
Whoa, did that send the complainant into a fit. The way she was talking to me after she had two days to cool off, I can only imagine what she would have been like at the scene of the crime! When both the officer’s sergeant and the chief of police independently told her quite politely that we thought this was a perfectly acceptable exercise of the officer’s discretion, she really blew a gasket.
The conversation was truncated before I reached the next punctuation mark. Come to think of it, she really didn’t hang up on me. “Hanging up” is sort of like “dialing the phone.” There is no dial and there is no hook. Let’s just say she clicked me off mid-sentence.
You can only please some of the people some of the time. Wonder what she would of thought if it was her car and she had failed to display the tag-would she think it was acceptable for her to receive a citation? Never fails to amaze me the things people complain on cops for.
ReplyDeleteNot that I would excuse her telephone or on-scene behavior, but perhaps she witnessed the person park and leave the vehicle. If that person had no apparent "handicap" they may have been abusing the use of the permit. I've seen lots of apparently healthy people park in handicap spots and run into the store for a six pack of beer or such. Now, I'll grant that it's possible they have some disabling disease or injury that is not visibly apparent; however, I doubt this is always the case. In my understanding, this would not be a legal use of the handicap spot.
ReplyDelete5:33-
ReplyDeleteShe would have been one very unhappy camper, I suspect, had the shoe been on the other foot, and had the officer written such a picky ticky.
Steve-
I, too, have seen what looked like questionable use / misuse of handicapped parking permits, though. But in this case, the vigilante saw no such thing: just the car parked in a handicapped stall without a visible tag.
I bet she then drove off in her own car, and fully expected NOT to be pulled over if she was 7 mph over the speed limit. Discretion - we want it only for ourselves...
ReplyDeleteAnd it's so unsatisfactory to "hang up" by pushing a button. So much better when we could really slam that sucker down.
ReplyDeleteA "picky ticky?" LOL
ReplyDeleteIs that an official police term?
Steve - My mother-in-law is one of the not apparent "handicap" people. Her permit recently expired and she had to have her doctor fill out paperwork to get it removed. We always get looks when parking with her. I know I have the same reaction seeing seemly healthy people popping into the store, but sometimes things aren't like they seem. I think it is sad that our society is automatically looking for the negative in everything.
ReplyDeleteDave-
ReplyDeleteNo. The official police term for is something else. Use your imagination.
Would that be something fowl?
ReplyDeleteIf the officer wanted more entertainment, he should have ticketed her for an illegally parked vehicle. I can't imagine that it's legal for someone to park in a manner that blocks someone in like that.
ReplyDeleteThe way I look at it...if you are able to tick a person like that off that bad, then you know you're doing something right.
BTW, to carry over from the other thread...I like the idea of a get-together.
ReplyDeleteI may not always like or agree with the Chief's opinion, but I can't help but respect him and the job he does producing quality officers for our city.
I'll bet the temptation to look the caller up on your system and see what tickets (especially warning tickets) she'd had in the past, as well as contacts of any sort, was very strong.
ReplyDeleteThere is permit abuse, but some genuine disabilities that don't interfere with driving or walking can interfere with ambulating. I imagine that some respiratory disabilities could be an impediment to someone that had to walk a few hundred feet to the front door, yet if they're trying to make do without an O2 bottle, their problem might not be evident to a casual observer.
Steve
ReplyDeleteYou have to be careful with this "If the person had no apparent handicap."and "Apparently healthy". While working downtown (In uniform displaying the badge and driving a marked police cruiser) I witnessed a vehicle park in a handicap stall on Centennial mall. two ladies exited from the vehicle and got into a line at one of the bars both appeared to be walking just fine. I checked the vehicle and observed a handicap tag hanging from the rear view mirror. Seeing this atrocious violation I stopped the driver and asked her why she was parking in a handicap stall. She lifted up her pant leg to show me a prosthetic leg. So with my tail between my legs I left red faced and all.
Picky Ticky - That is great!
ReplyDeleteOff subject, haven't seen any pirate comments lately.
I have a handicap plate on my motorcycle. Several years ago when I had my old motorcycle and I parked it in a Handicap spot I would be in a store and I could expect a call over the intercom usually saying something like, "will the owner of the motorcycle parked in the Handicap spot please report to the service counter?" The first time this happened to me at a WalMart store I went to the service counter and told them the motorcycle belonged to me and it did have a Handicap plate on it.
ReplyDeleteThe Lady at the service desk got on the intercom and said, "will the person who reported the motorcycle parked in the HandiCap spot pleas report to the optical department. That motorcycle has a valid HandiCap plate on it". I could hear laughter all over the store.
At other times I would return to my bike and see key scratches on it. In fact one time I caught a Lady(?) in the act of keying my bike. I approached her and asked her if she would want to pay for a new paint job and a hefty fine for vandalism. I didn't make a big issue out of that because that bikes paint job was worn down to the primer. However if that would happen to my shiny NEW baby now. . . there would probably be one or two calls to 911!
Gun Nut
To 7:50 AM
ReplyDeleteYes, Chicken. :|
Two questions:
ReplyDeleteIf there was a "get together" of the people who post here, would Atticus show up with a paper sack over his head?
And do you suppose Arrgh... got picked up by the French Navy? He must be on vacation.
I always display my handicap permit so no crazy women block me in. I've had bad experiences with crazy women.
ReplyDeleteThe irony of the call was she was angry, well about a lot of things, but one of them being that I wasn't protecting disabled people....hmmmm.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should compare notes with the DMV, because I'm sure they got a click off as well.
I might show up with an 'Anonymous' name tag. Who would know?
ReplyDeleteif you are able to tick a person like that off that bad, then you know you're doing something right.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that philosophy, and I have nothing to do with law enforcement. Just a good rule to live by.
10:10
ReplyDeleteThat's why I qualified my observances with the words "no apparent handicap" and went on to grant the possibilty that there was a justifiable use of the parking spots in question. It's also why I refrain from saying anything to these people, as much as I would like to question their behavior as you "apparently" did.
7:13
Society doesn't necessarily go around looking for the negative in everything. Sometimes it just comes up and slaps you in the face.
the law outlawing the hanging of tags on the rearview mirror is stupid and is probably why the tag was in the console because people don't want to get pulled over for something hanging from their rearview...
ReplyDeleteIt's stupid until your vision is blocked by whatever is hanging on your mirror and you crash.
ReplyDelete