We’ve known for a long time that police officers routinely refuse to arrest other officers when they drive drunk. It appears that in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, prominent local politicians can get away with it too — as long as they call the sheriff and get special treatment. Allen County Councilman Paul Moss was pulled over for suspicion of DWI, but never took a test for it:
According to that FWPD report, the deputy pulled Moss over at 2:31 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Dupont Road and Dupont Circle.
Then at 2:51, that deputy called Fort Wayne police to help administer an OWI test.
The police report says the FWPD officer was heading to that scene, but ended up pulling over another suspected drunk driver on I-69 instead.
He wasn’t finished with that driver until 3:08 a.m. and then requested to meet with the sheriff’s deputy and Moss at the Allen County Justice Center, recently renamed the Bud Meeks Justice Center, where he could conduct the OWI test.
At 3:19, the Fort Wayne officer got to the Justice Center, but the deputy and Moss had still not left the Dupont area. That officer was then told they weren’t coming and that Sheriff Fries had issued an order to disregard the call.
The councilman, of course, says this is all false. But I’ve never heard of an officer telling a lie on a police report that was likely to cause trouble for another officer.
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Tualha
June 15, 2012 at 2:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Not news to me. A local politician in New Jersey side-impacted my parents’ car about ten years ago, put my mom in the hospital. Nothing much happened to him.
theschwa
June 15, 2012 at 3:02 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
But I’ve never heard of an officer telling a lie on a police report
What?!
…that was likely to cause trouble for another officer.
WHEW. OK, now it makes sense.
Phillip IV
June 15, 2012 at 3:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If you know your George Orwell, you can predict the outcome of the story from the name of the building.
WMDKitty
June 15, 2012 at 5:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@Phillip IV — Yup. “Justice Center” does not inspire confidence. It conjures up the spectre of Room 101.
netamigo
June 15, 2012 at 6:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This is pretty standard for politicians. Some years back, I was in Springfield, Illinois for company training with a company I worked for at that time. One evening, I went to bed in my hotel room and awoke a little later to find 3 teenage boys rummaging through the dresser drawers at the foot of my bed. One boy realized I was awake and looking at them. He motioned me to the others. They mumbled about making a mistake and hurriedly left the room. I called the desk and they locked down the hotel, a very large building. They caught the boys. The cops argued with me not to press charges, etc. I learned later that one of the boys worked there part time and thus had keys. His father was the Assistant Attorney General for Illinois and a powerful politician in the state. Absolutely nothing ever happened. The cops wouldn’t do anything. Basically, I was lucky that I was not hurt when I woke up.
lorn
June 15, 2012 at 6:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Police work is, as with many other specialized and dangerous professions, a brotherhood that focuses on loyalty. Police, largely due to budget cuts, work alone but depend on other officers to enthusiastically come running at the first call for help. Law Enforcemnt Officers, LEOs, are expected to have each others backs and to sacrifice for each other. Their effectiveness, health and survival all depend on this bond between officers.
This explains why LEOs often socialize with, often marry, other LEOs. And, conversely, why police tend toward the attitude that non-officers, ‘civilians’, ares a different species. LEOs get handles one way, ‘civilians’ another.
Every officer faces the fact that failing to show sufficient loyalty can lead to them being isolated and ignored. Possibly finding themselves alone in a dark alley both outnumbered and outgunned while other officers are experiencing ‘radio trouble’.
Doesn’t make it right or good but once you understand this sort of thing, particularly if you have experience in such a group, it is easy to understand what is going on and why. The questions of who ‘watches the watchers’ and how you maintain unit cohesion and loyalty without them becoming ‘above the law’ or alienated from the public are a balancing act. There are few hard answers. Most police departments tend to go through cycles that, with a little luck, avoid the extremes.
"We Are Ing The Matrimonial Collective"
June 15, 2012 at 6:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@Lorn
Um pretty sure a lot of what is discussed here are not hard questions. You know “don’t cover up crimes” should be a no brainer.
Fuck the pigs
"We Are Ing The Matrimonial Collective"
June 15, 2012 at 6:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Seriously, police don’t give a shit what your situation is when you break the law (or even if you don’t) so why the fuck should we give them any breaks.
Hatchetfish
June 15, 2012 at 8:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Lorn, what, exactly, was your point, generally?
As for “once you understand”.
“understand” in the sense of seeing multiple phenomena that partly drive this disgraceful and utterly unethical behavior? Certainly.
“understand” in the sense of “well, it’s not right but once you understand…”, no, never. These are not systemic mitigating factors for the behavior of individuals. These are damning flaws, of the entire institution, its culture, and many of its individuals as well.
A flawed system or culture is not an excuse for dishonest behavior as adaptation. A flawed system is a system that needs overhauled so that dishonest behavior is severely non-adaptive.
katkinkate
June 16, 2012 at 12:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
SOP for authoritarian types. The rules are for little people. Those in authority/those who make the rules are not subject to the rules. Nixon said (paraphrased) “What I did wasn’t illegal because I (the President) did it” and that attitude is ubiquitous among authoritarian personality types in positions of power. The other side of this coin are those authoritarian followers who gladly support the attitude, probably with the understanding that when they make it to a position of power, the same principle will apply to them.
jayarrrr
June 16, 2012 at 10:21 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That’s nothing, in Indianapolis, a drunk cop can run over a biker and kill him and get out of jail free.
And Lorn, in Pig Culture, we’re not “Civilians”, we’re “Perps”.
Cop bashing....... - Page 5
August 21, 2012 at 6:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] leave". Then right back out on the streets doing the same things plus some. http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/15/its-not-dwi-when-politicians-do-it/ and yet these people wonder why "we the people" dislike [...]