Sad to say, but, not even if my life depended on it! I didn't start out that way.. I learned it out of self-preservation!
Did you know that by calling 911 for an ambulance you invite to police as well. Not really a problem... medics are medics - the job of the police officer responding to a medical call (the way I learned it while training to be an EMT ) is to help to ensure a safe work environment for the medics. They direct traffic at accident scenes, they keep hoodlums from raiding the ambulance while you conduct patient assesment prior to moving them.. in general their purpose is intended to be beneficial to our society.
Every once in a while you get someone with more ambition than discretion. The horror I faced in Stearns County, MN may have CURED me of "public servants" for life! Not just one person with a mis-calibrated gauge of appropriate... a whole string of them.
It all started when, on July 18, my wife's elbow was dislocated. By the end of the day I was in jail charged with felony battery and couldn't understand why or how... I was sure that as soon as Monday rolled around a county attorney wuld review "the case" and immediately recognize that there had been no inappropriate behaviour.. at least on MY behalf!
When, at last, I saw the Judge for a bail hearing... fully expecting the whole thing to be thrown out I was shocked. I was to be held pending bail. It' would take me two weeks to secure bail and get released from jail. Being extremely curious as to what was causing the county to press so adamantly for charges, to forbid me to check on the well-being of my wife, or even to go home I asked for a copy of the discovery. Most people don't even know you can do it, others blow it off. After this experience.. I will NEVER forget to ask for the discovery again!
After receiving the discovery I see, clearly, what the issue is: the imagination, ambition, and lack of discretion on the part of one of the responding officers. Right there in black and white he wrote how HE generated an attack between my wife and myself. He even told her the way in which she had sustained the injury! Never mind the fact that he wasn't there.
Upon reading this fiction the County Attorney's office was out for justice...for the "bad guy" in the officers story.. and his poor, battered wife.
When I pointed out that the officer had done NO investigation, NO objective recording of the facts... he didn't even care that the facts before him contradicted the story he wanted to tell.. but at least he had the integrity to admit as much - the county attorney tried to blame MY WIFE! Saying that she recanted her story... I looked at the discovery again, more closely, and was sure that I couldn't find HER story in there!
Unless you count how the officer violated decent behaviour as he tried to destroy a marriage, or how he repeatedly violated her patient/doctor confidentiality - and USED the information gained against HER! It appeared clear that, in this city, the cops want arrests, the County Attorney wants convictions, and, they aren't too concerned if they need to generate a few facts, bully a couple disabled Veterans, or, distort the truth to get it. What makes that fact even more disturbing is that, because the Federal Government has a VA Medical Center in this town, there is (likely) a disproportionately high Veteran population in this jurisdiction.
At least that's the answer I recieved when I pointed out that about 25% of the inmate population in the Stearns County Jail were Veterans. That percentage is based on personal observation. Consider that bearing in mind that it's reported about 10 - 11% of our population volunteer for service in our Armed Forces.
The story goes on, but, I want to take a break...
Did you know that by calling 911 for an ambulance you invite to police as well. Not really a problem... medics are medics - the job of the police officer responding to a medical call (the way I learned it while training to be an EMT ) is to help to ensure a safe work environment for the medics. They direct traffic at accident scenes, they keep hoodlums from raiding the ambulance while you conduct patient assesment prior to moving them.. in general their purpose is intended to be beneficial to our society.
Every once in a while you get someone with more ambition than discretion. The horror I faced in Stearns County, MN may have CURED me of "public servants" for life! Not just one person with a mis-calibrated gauge of appropriate... a whole string of them.
It all started when, on July 18, my wife's elbow was dislocated. By the end of the day I was in jail charged with felony battery and couldn't understand why or how... I was sure that as soon as Monday rolled around a county attorney wuld review "the case" and immediately recognize that there had been no inappropriate behaviour.. at least on MY behalf!
When, at last, I saw the Judge for a bail hearing... fully expecting the whole thing to be thrown out I was shocked. I was to be held pending bail. It' would take me two weeks to secure bail and get released from jail. Being extremely curious as to what was causing the county to press so adamantly for charges, to forbid me to check on the well-being of my wife, or even to go home I asked for a copy of the discovery. Most people don't even know you can do it, others blow it off. After this experience.. I will NEVER forget to ask for the discovery again!
After receiving the discovery I see, clearly, what the issue is: the imagination, ambition, and lack of discretion on the part of one of the responding officers. Right there in black and white he wrote how HE generated an attack between my wife and myself. He even told her the way in which she had sustained the injury! Never mind the fact that he wasn't there.
Upon reading this fiction the County Attorney's office was out for justice...for the "bad guy" in the officers story.. and his poor, battered wife.
When I pointed out that the officer had done NO investigation, NO objective recording of the facts... he didn't even care that the facts before him contradicted the story he wanted to tell.. but at least he had the integrity to admit as much - the county attorney tried to blame MY WIFE! Saying that she recanted her story... I looked at the discovery again, more closely, and was sure that I couldn't find HER story in there!
Unless you count how the officer violated decent behaviour as he tried to destroy a marriage, or how he repeatedly violated her patient/doctor confidentiality - and USED the information gained against HER! It appeared clear that, in this city, the cops want arrests, the County Attorney wants convictions, and, they aren't too concerned if they need to generate a few facts, bully a couple disabled Veterans, or, distort the truth to get it. What makes that fact even more disturbing is that, because the Federal Government has a VA Medical Center in this town, there is (likely) a disproportionately high Veteran population in this jurisdiction.
At least that's the answer I recieved when I pointed out that about 25% of the inmate population in the Stearns County Jail were Veterans. That percentage is based on personal observation. Consider that bearing in mind that it's reported about 10 - 11% of our population volunteer for service in our Armed Forces.
The story goes on, but, I want to take a break...
