A while back in San Jose, I was motoring down Capitol Expressway
and not paying attention to my speed. I checked the rear-view
mirror, however, and it revealed a motorcycle with flashing red
lights and a siren.
A while back in San Jose, I was motoring down Capitol Expressway and not paying attention to my speed. I checked the rear-view mirror, however, and it revealed a motorcycle with flashing red lights and a siren.
I pulled over and reviewed my traffic stop drill: Roll down the passenger window, keep hands in view, greet the officer pleasantly. Check.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” asked the motor cop. I replied “No, but I bet you’re going to tell me!” My reply got a laugh! Jackpot! Next I heard “license, registration and insurance card, please.”
It all checked out, except that I had failed to put my insurance renewal card in the car, and it was three days out of date. The officer came back and said “You were doing 47 in a 35. I’m warning you about that; keep it down. However, you’re getting a fix-it ticket on the insurance card. It keeps my sergeant happy. Sign here.”
Woohoo! Skate city. No mover, no bump in my insurance rate. I signed, smiled, said “have a nice day!” and motored on.
My point is this. For most of us, our contact with the police is in just such a situation. We see them in the rear-view mirror, pull over, get a ticket and deep down, although we may be disgruntled, we know who’s at fault for the violation.
There is, however, a certain subset of citizens whose contact is not limited to traffic stops. Cops meet people at their worst and the worst people, and that is the reason I cannot fathom why anyone would object to our city’s lack of hard-and-fast rules on use of the TASER.
Enter Mona Cadena, of Amnesty International, who whines that “there’s no consistency in how departments are using them.” I disagree. In our city, at least, I think everyone shocked has resisted arrest or been about to commit a crime. That is consistency.
Those reading the police blotter in this paper knows that Gilroy has a cadre of avid consumers of alternative-market pharmaceuticals, like meth and crack. Those drugs impart superhuman strength and aggressive urges. I once heard a judge long for the days of heroin addiction, when junkies just shot up and nodded off instead of becoming violent, dangerous monsters.
The TASER is the perfect answer to affecting arrests in cases like these. Indeed, I find myself wishing these people could be Tased BEFORE they use such drugs; think of it as “aversion therapy.” The TASER also has the advantage of being feared. No one likes electricity, and that nasty-sounding crackle and bright spark that result when it’s displayed has caused a number of creeps who previously might have resisted arrest to change their minds and submit.
I saw a TASER demonstration at a City Council retreat. Assistant Chief Lanny Brown “invited” me to be Tased. As this is a family newspaper, I can’t repeat my return invitation to him. However, Councilman Roland Velasco, in what I considered an episode of incipient insanity, did agree to be the subject of the demonstration, and went down like a ton of bricks. He was up in a few minutes, and their wasn’t any untoward effect.
I’ve known a few cops in my day, and to a man or woman, they will tell you privately that when it comes to the use of force, they are going to use what force is necessary to go home to their families when the day is done. So, any device that dials down that force is beneficial to all.
We entrust them with the tools necessary to do their difficult job. A policy of letting them make the decision on the spot, which is the current one, is entirely correct.
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Many friends, acquaintances, and readers took the time to write, call, send a card, or e-mail me offering condolences upon death of my mother. Thanks to you all.
Big Daze was cremated, as she wished. In my luggage was a freezer bag with part of her ashes. When the ground warms, my rototiller will come out of the shed and till the soil for Phyllis’ annual garden.
This year, we will set aside a special portion, scattering her ashes there, and will plant … (altogether, now) daisies.
Mom would have liked that.
Bob Dillon is a former Gilroy city councilman and a longtime scribe. His column is published each Thursday. Reach him at rt******@****ic.com
