As I drove to Fed Ex office
yesterday, I noticed that once again Orlando’s little blue boys with their
techno toys were out on the speed trap that is North Crystal Lake Drive between
Washington Street and the Expressway. The officers were standing just out of
sight behind the buildings and trees off the northbound lanes just before Crystal
Lake curves westward into the intersection at Washington.
Fortunately, I was doing the
speed limit, as inappropriate as that limit might be for that stretch of
highway. Truth be told, I usually do. Even when I instinctively slow down at
the sight of the radar gun peeking out from behind the obstructions, I rarely
need to.
But there were some who weren’t
so lucky.
As I observed the officers, aiming
their radar guns at oncoming motorists as if they were actual weapons – a stance
that communicates volumes in terms of the way these officers seem to see the public they ostensibly are serving - I was suddenly taken back to my recent trip to
visit friends in NY.
On my journey across the state on the NY Thruway (I-90) I
observed a number of highway patrolmen. But I didn’t have to look for them. They
weren’t hiding behind bushes and trees with radar guns or just out of sight
over the next bridge or hill. Over and over I spotted their cruisers idling in
the median of the highway, in plain sight.
Not surprisingly, the traffic around
them was all doing the speed limit. Indeed, I saw very few cars being pulled
over in the entire stretch from Buffalo to Albany.
Wonder what cause and effect
might be observable here?
What Prompted You to Do That?
The question about appropriate
law enforcement practice often turns on what ultimate concern motivates that
practice, recognizing that for all of us our actual motivations are often largely
unconscious. Do we want to punish people?
That’s always a good bet in a culture as strongly shaped by Calvinist
anthropology as our own. Do we want to
collect fines? That’s also a good bet in states like Florida that are
socially irresponsible, making up for taxes not levied and tax breaks continually
provided the wealthy through fines, fees, tolls, and regressive sales taxes
that soak the working poor.
Do we want to trick people and then blame them for their
misfortune to have been travelling down the road where law enforcement was
engaging in deceptive practices that day?
Check your control issues here. And be aware that at least in Florida, engaging
in stealthy behaviors is seen as prima
facie evidence of criminal intent. (Florida Statue 810.07) Why is it any
different when law enforcement model the same?
Indeed, what example do we
want our public servants to set for our populace here? Is it respect for the
law which encourages its voluntary observance because the public
recognizes its value or is it forced observance of a law through coercion with the resentment toward deceptive
enforcement practices and contempt for those who engage in them that results?
What if we simply wanted
people to slow down for safety reasons and took that seriously? Seems to me, the NYHP has figured out
a sure-fire way to do that. I don’t know that NY officers don’t engage in
sleazy practices elsewhere. If I’m to believe the television and movies I’ve
seen, it would seem like a good bet. But at least the days I was travelling on
their interstate highways, I was impressed by what struck me as thoughtful –
and effective – law enforcement practices.
It Can Wait – Really, It Can
One other kudo to NY. It is
illegal there to even hold any cellular device while driving. That means no talking
or texting. First offense can cost up to $300. Repeated offenses begin to incur
points against one’s driver’s license.
Amazing!
Florida has no prohibition on
driving while distracted by cell and only a secondary offense for texting while
driving (driver must be stopped for something else to be charged). And we have the
accident incidence to show for it. Indeed, a number of studies now suggest that cell phone/texting distracted drivers are ultimately more
dangerous than those who are intoxicated.
Florida could learn a lot from
NY beginning with the encouragement of drivers to wait until they reach
designated pull-offs to engage in texting and talking. And we could learn a lot about how to generate respect for law enforcement from
the examples of effective speed control practiced by the NYHP.
In both cases, the examples set by law enforcement are positive,
the results encouraging and thus they offer Florida valuable lessons: There is a value
in following the law. And there are ways of enforcing it that are
better than others. Finally, there is a time and place for everything. If you’re on the highway, you must remember that you’re
driving an automobile, not a phone booth. Whatever it is, it can wait. Really, it can.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If the unexamined life is not worth
living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is
not worth holding.
Most things worth considering do
not come in sound bites.
For what does G-d require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d? (Micah
6:8, Hebrew Scriptures)
© Harry Coverston 2017
1 comment:
People do drive over the speed limit here (the site of Harry's recent visit) and you do see people with cell phones stuck in their faces. But not as many as in Florida. Not nearly as many. Plus, the freedom from sneakiness and subterfuge is refreshing. Police actually improving public safety rather than raising money.
Florida is bad at playing Hide The Cop but not as bad as Missouri, where drivers take great delight in flashing headlights to warn oncoming motorists that Kindly Officer Friendly is lurking in the bushes.
Other little niceties: People almost without exception use turn signals. People don't leave shopping carts in the parking lot. And there are very few Honda Civics with coffee-can mufflers and radios going THUMPA THUMPA THUMPA.
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