Anti Federalist
12-08-2014, 07:18 PM
Bet there won't be any forced blood draws on these guys.
Heavy toll, light penalties for police who drive drunk
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/06/off-duty-police-face-drunken-driving-charges-and-lenient-treatment-with-surprising-frequency/KaH7EiTyoWx88dsLZpIaHM/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed
...snip
“You can’t expect that John Q. Private Citizen is going to give up his or her constitutional rights just because they happen to be a police officer,” Alben said. He also noted that law enforcement agencies, unlike many employers, generally hold workers accountable for arrests outside of work.
Professional courtesy
Some officers are never arrested or even asked to take a breath test when they are accused of drinking and driving.
Several witnesses reported that Andover police officer Evan Robitaille seemed drunk after he allegedly crashed into a car on I-495 in Lowell last year and fled to a nearby gas station in his hobbled SUV.
One woman said Robitaille had trouble standing. A police officer said he sounded incoherent and “definitely intoxicated.”
But instead of giving him sobriety tests, Lowell police dropped Robitaille off at a McDonald’s and arranged for an off-duty Andover officer to give Robitaille a ride home, according to court documents.
“It’s the ultimate professional courtesy,” said Bowling Green State University criminologist Phil Stinson, who conducted the national study of police arrests and suspects such incidents are frequent.
Indeed, it might be so common for police to receive special treatment that the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission questioned whether it was fair to punish a Pittsfield officer in a 2008 case for failing to report a traffic stop involving a fellow officer.
“Every police officer who testified before the Commission testified that the routine and customary practice when a stop is made on a fellow police officer, is to show professional courtesy and not call in the stop,” read the commission report.
Heavy toll, light penalties for police who drive drunk
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/06/off-duty-police-face-drunken-driving-charges-and-lenient-treatment-with-surprising-frequency/KaH7EiTyoWx88dsLZpIaHM/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed
...snip
“You can’t expect that John Q. Private Citizen is going to give up his or her constitutional rights just because they happen to be a police officer,” Alben said. He also noted that law enforcement agencies, unlike many employers, generally hold workers accountable for arrests outside of work.
Professional courtesy
Some officers are never arrested or even asked to take a breath test when they are accused of drinking and driving.
Several witnesses reported that Andover police officer Evan Robitaille seemed drunk after he allegedly crashed into a car on I-495 in Lowell last year and fled to a nearby gas station in his hobbled SUV.
One woman said Robitaille had trouble standing. A police officer said he sounded incoherent and “definitely intoxicated.”
But instead of giving him sobriety tests, Lowell police dropped Robitaille off at a McDonald’s and arranged for an off-duty Andover officer to give Robitaille a ride home, according to court documents.
“It’s the ultimate professional courtesy,” said Bowling Green State University criminologist Phil Stinson, who conducted the national study of police arrests and suspects such incidents are frequent.
Indeed, it might be so common for police to receive special treatment that the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission questioned whether it was fair to punish a Pittsfield officer in a 2008 case for failing to report a traffic stop involving a fellow officer.
“Every police officer who testified before the Commission testified that the routine and customary practice when a stop is made on a fellow police officer, is to show professional courtesy and not call in the stop,” read the commission report.