Was a Woodstock police car involved in an accident in the Wal-mart parking lot last week?
A tip reached me today that, indeed, one was.
I don't recall seeing any mention of it in the Northwest Herald, and no press release is posted on the Police Department webpages.
Police officers are human; they are behind the wheel for many hours in a month. They may not drive many miles; the entire department averages only 30,000 miles/month (16-month average); that's 1,000 miles/day. Three shifts: thus, 333 miles/shift. Four-five officers per shift? An officer might drive 50-75 miles on his shift. Some more; some less.
But an officer has a lot to do while he's driving: watching traffic; watching people; reading the computer; listening to the police radio and using it; talking on his cell phone.
So, what happened in the Wal-mart parking lot? Did a driver back out of a parking space and into the squad car? Did it happen in a turn? At a stop sign? Was anyone ticketed?
By the way, is there a Vehicular Control Agreement in effect on the Wal-mart parking lot? Such an Agreement allows the police department to enforce traffic laws on private property.
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27 comments:
All right... come clean Buster! The reason Nygren gave you the leer leer last week was cuz while you were picking up your dropped aspiring and Viagra in your VW Bug, you rolled into his white Tahoe... in Walmart nt Jewel! That it... GUILTY! To the gallowz! DOH!
Did an officer run into a pole on the Wal-mart parking lot?
More importantly, who cares??
Who cares? I care. And I'm not alone.
In the interest of transparency in government, police department crashes should be promptly reported in the news. Why not?
If full disclosure is made promptly, the veil of secrecy disappears and the public trust increases.
What difference does it make, Gus? If a Woodstock squad had run someone over in the parking lot of Wal Mart, I'd agree with you, but I suspect if that was the case, you'd have come right out and said it.
Promptly reported in the news??? A fender bender in the Wal-Mart parking lot is hardly newsworthy. And I suspect MOST non hen-pecking, non busy-body, non finger-wagging people would agree. I think this takes the idea of government transparency clear through to the ridiculous.
QWA ... the squad car was purchased, maintained, fueled, insured and operated by PUBLIC money. Get it?
It could well be something entirely innocent, yet since WE have to pay for it, we should know.
My aunt in Arlington Heights had this happen to her. As she walked to her parked car, unbeknownst to her, another shopper had already called in a fender-bender.
She got in, started up, saw no obstructions. Then before backing out, she checked her hair and makeup. Then she put the car into reverse.
In that short delay, the Arlington squad showed up for the fender bender, parking alongside her, and she backed directly into the squad that had parked directly behind her in the interim! LOL!
DBTR
And that is relevant how, Karen? If it was an accident, what are you suggesting that YOU, as a private citizen, do with that information? Are the two of you going to march yourselves down to WPD and demand to speak to the chief? I mean, really, both of you....we're not talking about a case of high-level corruption here. It's a minor traffic accident, for crying out loud. Ooh..gov'ment transparency! Please. And Gus, you mention full disclosure and the news in the previous comment. Just because it wasn't reported "in the news" does not mean that anyone is hiding anything. "The news" doesn't even pull crash stats and publish them in the blotter, nor do they ever report on it unless it's something of substance. Which this, from the gist of it, isn't.
If you've got time to concern yourselves with this sort of thing, perhaps you should find something (read: productive) else to do.
DBTR, do you go to the city/township/village government wherever you live and scrutinize the budget on an annual basis? Or Karen, do you? Gus, you very well might and next thing we know, you'll be hitting the office supply budget with unrelenting force, I'm sure. After all, you're paying for it, right?
In the interest of saving the taxpayers' money, yesterday I emailed the Woodstock Police Department for information about this crash at Wal-Mart.
In the absence of a reply within 24 hours, I filed a FOIA Request at noon. They have seven (7) business days to respond.
"And that is relevant how, Karen? If it was an accident, what are you suggesting that YOU, as a private citizen, do with that information"?
Well, QWA,I read it along with all the other tickets, accidents and reports in the police blotters. With the exception that the car, gas, insurance, maintenance and driver are paid for with public money, why is it any different?
QuitWhiningAlready said...
"DBTR, do you go to the city/township/village government wherever you live and scrutinize the budget on an annual basis? Or Karen, do you"?
Yes, I do. I also know DBTR, and I happen to know he does as well, because we have discussed it. DBTR has a way of explaining how everything works in terms most people can understand.
Hey - QuitWhining -
First off, take your OWN advice!
Second, as citizens, we have a right to know whatever it is that we desire in regards spending by our relevant unit of government for which we pay.
Based on what Gus has stated here, it would seem not only that accidents with squads are fairly common around here, but that in this instance, this accident would appear to be related to the officer's lax regard for the requisite attention behind the wheel under any ORDINARY circumstance. If a particular officer or sherrif’s deputy proves to be continually inattentive in their skill as drivers, regardless of their professional proficiency otherwise, one needs to “let them go” as an employer – provided you consider your fiduciary responsibility to your employer (or the taxpayers) as serious. Such deficits from employees can become very, very expensive over time.
Back in the day, while training a new employee for an office supply delivery route, I had in my new trainee such a driver. He was an enthusiastic go-getter, and I could tell that otherwise, he would make a good employee. At the time, we were delivering supplies on what happened to be my very own older route. It was a VERY cold December morning, and we were simply crossing the parking lot between buildings in a large complex in Des Plaines. As we headed into the sun to the next building, squinting through the road salt-stained windshield into the penumbra of a shade-darkened building entrance, we suddenly saw a brand-new’79 Mercedes 450SL convertible with a hard top parked directly before us at the building entrance stairway. As it happened, this car belonged to the head IT guy for IBM in Chicago. He parked there specifically so that no one would damage his car in the parking lot! LOL! Of course, as this area was in the shade, the parking area itself was entirely coated with black ice.
Being my old route, all of this information and total acknowledgement of the situation came to me in an instant as we entered the area in shadow, and I remember laughing hysterically as we t-boned the Mercedes, throwing me from my un-restrained position in a folding chair on the passenger side of the van into the windshield, and then bouncing backward into the cargo area of the delivery van after impact. These cars were rolling bank vaults, yet the force of our impact not only caused the hard-top to be jettisoned off the rigid body structure, but also ended up shattering all of it’s windows in a spectacular explosion of pebbled glass.
This guy’s first thought was, “Holy sh*t! What do we do now?” I told him that the first order of business was to call our boss, Bill. He chickened out once we reached the pay phone (remember those?), so I took the lead and made the 10-cent (!) call - HIS dime! After a few minutes of discussion, as I allowed that how if I had driven this route that day, that I could well have been in the same situation, Bill asked, “By the way, what did you guys hit?” My response was, “A brand-new SL”, and we were put on hold for about 10 minutes! LOL!
Based on Bill’s and the owner’s decision that day to “self-insure” on this one, I think we were “on the hook” for well over $15,000 in damages – not an inconsiderable amount of money in 1980. Their initial decision, which was not incorrect, was to continue to employ him. However, a few weeks later, I heard he hadn’t mustered for duty that morning, and that I would drive the route for a few days. When I asked what was up, Bill told me they canned him, as when backing out of a space at lunch at the local McDonald’s, he backed into another car.
The moral? This guy was a go-getter and had a great attitude. Unfortunately, part of his job, and his effect on the businesses’ profitability, not only depended on his ability to be a great employee, but also depended on the fact that he was a reasonably proficient driver as well. In this case, the deputy involved may be the best cop since Serpico – yet, if this officer appears prone to cause unnecessary expenditures on car repairs and the like, the fact that he is a lousy driver isn’t going to help you or me.
DBTR
Doug & Wendy Whiner said:
>>>> DBTR, do you go to the city/township/village government wherever you live and scrutinize the budget on an annual basis? Or Karen, do you? Gus, you very well might and next thing we know, you'll be hitting the office supply budget with unrelenting force, I'm sure. After all, you're paying for it, right?
What Karen said –
I hadn’t always, but this is the second year in a row in which I have an entire copy of my town’s budget, and of which I am reading and well-versed, but I have also researched and examined ALL of their outstanding bond issues as well.
What do you do in your free time?
Whine?
DBTR
Wow, DBTR. That was really um...something. I'm still not sure what, exactly, but it was definitely something. Gus, if this is really the battle du jour, yet another purported conspiracy within a local law enforcement agency, then carry on without another word from me on the ridiculousness and misdrection of the entire situation at hand. I will anxiously await your findings and subsequent punishment recommendations from yourself, Karen and DBTR. Perhaps in the meantime DBTR can regale us with another meticulously detailed, three-comment dissertation about some time that he was personally involved in Scooby Doo-like caper ending in an "Ah ha!" at some former place of employment. That is, before he was a motivational speaker, living in a van down by the river.
And DBTR, don't forget to add in all the (!) and "LOL!"s. You're oh so clever(!)LOL! And I totally said that in my best Wendy Whiner voice and followed it up with my best Fran Drescher laugh.
Hey, everybody. It would have been nice if Woodstock PD had merely responded that Ofc. xxx was involved in a single- (or multiple-) car crash in the Wal-mart parking lot on (date) at (time), causing $xxx damage to the squad car. A pole suddenly lurched in front of him from behind a large van and hit the (front?) of the squad car. The pole was cited and will appear in McHenry County Traffic Court on xx/xx/2009.
SH!T HAPPENS! MOVE ON!
I hate it when poles do that. :P
No one said it's a conspiracy QWA. Why are you so against the reporting of a police vehicle involved in an accident? Are you also against my accidents and tickets being reported in the police blotter? Hell, my car isn't paid for with public money, and yet my name get's reported in the paper if I'm in an accident or get a ticket. What is your whine about the public knowing if a police car has been in an accident?
Doug and Wendy Said:
>>>> Wow, DBTR. That was really um...something.
Gosh, D&W - you really are - something! LOL!
>>>> I'm still not sure what, exactly, but it was definitely something.
Like a baseball bat upside your head? That's propbably all that can register with you, Doug/Wendy!
>>>> Gus, if this is really the battle du jour, yet another purported conspiracy within a local law enforcement agency, then carry on without another word from me on the ridiculousness and misdrection of the entire situation at hand.
How generous and magnanimous for someone of your vaunted social standing. Wasn't aware there was such a thing as Idiot Nobless Oblige!
>>>> Perhaps in the meantime DBTR can regale us with another meticulously detailed, three-comment dissertation about some time that he was personally involved in Scooby Doo-like caper ending in an "Ah ha!" at some former place of employment.
HA! You don't bother to read, do you Doug/Wendy? Three-part has yet to occur - Duh! Would you disparage my postings seeing as how I am reduced to former employment at this stage of my life? Care to just generally unload on the unemployed?
>>>> and followed it up with my best Fran Drescher laugh.
No wonder everyone recoils from you in horror, Doug/Wendy!
Yes, it's too bad that others take blogs seriously, and that they attempt to do a good job, whatever life's oportunities are that are presented them! How sad that anyone really cares about ANYTHING, Doug/Wendy.
DBTR
Too bad all you have is the "whine", Doug/Wendy.
You're missing out on the "women and song" part of the equation!
Hey any of you ladies here willing to complete THAT trifecta for Doug/Wendy?
All you have to do is to pretend you're listening, and let him/her do whatever they want!
Oh - doesn't sound like a hot gig? See Doug/Wendy - that's your whole problem right there!
Your left hand needs a break - or is it your right? Kinky!
DBTR
Karen, it isn't about whether or not this information is available to the public. It is, and Gus has FOIA'd it. On the face of things, I can't see any reason why that request would be denied, and I would fully expect to hear the reason if it is. It's about the idea that since it wasn't in "the news", it's deception.
In response to DBTR:
Yes, I'm kind of a big deal. People know me.
Baseball bat upside my head? Not so much.
As for your current employment status, that is unfortunate. I'd offer you one of my jobs, but I doubt you'd qualify.
Recoils? If you only knew.
Serious blogging? Gus has some good posts that are worthy of seriousness. This isn't one of them.
Trifecta? LOL!
And so on and so on. Enough, please.
QWA, I reread the thread and for the life of me, I don't read anything that states "deception".
Perhaps the accident was minor. Ok, fine. My question is why do other "minor" tickets and accidents get reported in the paper (police blotter)? Surely a police car involved in a minor accident is more interesting to the public than Joe Blow improperly using a lane.
Unless the accident was witheld from the papers, the blame goes to the newspaper for not reporting it.
A second FOIA Request is being submitted today, this time to the McHenry County Sheriff's Dept., which investigated the crash. It appears to have a relatively minor crash, when the squad car ran into a light pole. Driver may have allowed himself to be distracted. Minor injuries. Awaiting the report and the dollar amount of damages.
Haven't seen anything in the Northwest Herald yet.
"It appears to have a relatively minor crash, when the squad car ran into a light pole"
So the pole wasn't heavyset or overweight? Could this pole speak English?
In Warsaw they tore down the football stadium because everywhere you sat, it was behind a pole.
Karen, what I read into with regard to my mention of deception is, "In the interest of transparency in government, police department crashes should be promptly reported in the news. Why not?
If full disclosure is made promptly, the veil of secrecy disappears and the public trust increases."
This leads me to believe that because it was not reported in the paper, we should be assuming that regarding this incident, there IS a veil of secrecy and reason for the public to distrust. Gus did not use the acutal word "deception" but the implication is definitely there.
As for the police blotter, I really do not know what is reported anymore, but I am quite certain that every traffic crash is not. Every citation is not reported either. Maybe it has to do with how the charge is written. I dunno.
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