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"Don't do as I do, do as I say." - your friendly neighborhood police officer
Well, is talking on a cell phone while driving to be considered dangerous, or isn't it? We're bombarded with messages on a regular basis, decrying the usage of cell phones while driving. We've been repeatedly told that using a cell phone, whether via a hands-free headset or not, is equivalent to driving while intoxicated (DWI). Do you believe that? Do you agree with that?
I think that there must be some 'spin' at work here. Why do I say that? Because from my little suburb, I have occasion to drive through seven different municipalities that are all suburbs of the large city to which I'm closest, and personally witness the behavior of members of seven different police departments as they go about their daily duties. In the town in which I live, I'm less than two miles from police headquarters, so I see lots of police officers as they come and go from headquarters. Almost every time I see a police officer, roughly seven out of eight over the last four months, in all seven of these towns, they are driving police cars, in uniform, and talking on a hand-held cell phone. So, if they want us to believe that this behavior is, in fact, akin to driving while intoxicated, then why, in the name of Saint Michael, are they driving while on duty and talking on a hand-held cellphone?
In all of these municipalities it is not yet required to have a hands-free headset, so it's not illegal. But we're publicly preached to every day that it isn't safe, isn't advised, and isn't 'smart.' But they're doing it! They're doing it all the time -- doing it everywhere, any time of the day or night! I didn't like the phrase "Don't do as I do, do as I say" when I was a kid, and I don't like it as a response when an officer of the law, and a representative of a municipality says it, either in word or in deed. It's indefensible.
Police officers and public officials should lead by example. You can't very well lecture citizens that something is wrong if *you're* doing it on official duty. Police officers are already 'notorious' for flipping on their lights to 'blow through' yellow lights, only to be seen turning them off once they're through the intersection. Yet, if you and I hurried through a yellow light, and they caught *us,* we'd get a ticket. The worst example of a police officer I ever saw was when an officer sped past me, above the posted speed limit, talking on a hand-held cell phone, flipped on his lights to blow through a yellow light, only to cross the intersection, and turn in to an IHOP to meet several other officers already parked there! Police officers are no better than are we. If you're going to insist that private citizens obey both the spirit and the letter of the law, then you have to exhibit the same behavior, both on duty, and in your personal life. Lead by example!
I think that there must be some 'spin' at work here. Why do I say that? Because from my little suburb, I have occasion to drive through seven different municipalities that are all suburbs of the large city to which I'm closest, and personally witness the behavior of members of seven different police departments as they go about their daily duties. In the town in which I live, I'm less than two miles from police headquarters, so I see lots of police officers as they come and go from headquarters. Almost every time I see a police officer, roughly seven out of eight over the last four months, in all seven of these towns, they are driving police cars, in uniform, and talking on a hand-held cell phone. So, if they want us to believe that this behavior is, in fact, akin to driving while intoxicated, then why, in the name of Saint Michael, are they driving while on duty and talking on a hand-held cellphone?
In all of these municipalities it is not yet required to have a hands-free headset, so it's not illegal. But we're publicly preached to every day that it isn't safe, isn't advised, and isn't 'smart.' But they're doing it! They're doing it all the time -- doing it everywhere, any time of the day or night! I didn't like the phrase "Don't do as I do, do as I say" when I was a kid, and I don't like it as a response when an officer of the law, and a representative of a municipality says it, either in word or in deed. It's indefensible.
Police officers and public officials should lead by example. You can't very well lecture citizens that something is wrong if *you're* doing it on official duty. Police officers are already 'notorious' for flipping on their lights to 'blow through' yellow lights, only to be seen turning them off once they're through the intersection. Yet, if you and I hurried through a yellow light, and they caught *us,* we'd get a ticket. The worst example of a police officer I ever saw was when an officer sped past me, above the posted speed limit, talking on a hand-held cell phone, flipped on his lights to blow through a yellow light, only to cross the intersection, and turn in to an IHOP to meet several other officers already parked there! Police officers are no better than are we. If you're going to insist that private citizens obey both the spirit and the letter of the law, then you have to exhibit the same behavior, both on duty, and in your personal life. Lead by example!
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