Thursday, December 4, 2008

Double Standard for Cops

Recently I was asked to comment on the disparity of treatment of deputies at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.

Deputy Zane Seipler was terminated recently for what may ultimately revealed as insufficient or non-existent grounds. They is likely to be much more to the story about the background for this termination (the "real" reason for it).

Have deputies been terminated for extremely poor judgement or behavior reflecting adversely on the department? How many times have deputies been involved in at-fault accidents and not been ticketed? And nothing released to the newspapers about the accidents? Or in "scuffles" or other illegal acts?

At a drinking party at Coleman's Tavern in Woodstock this year, a jail deputy backed into another car, re-parked her vehicle and then left. When the Woodstock cops showed up, she was gone. Read the details below by searching on this site for "Webb". Did she lose her job? Nope.

This fall I heard about another drinking party where deputies would be gathering, and I notified the Illinois State Police, requesting that they set up a roadside sobriety checkpoint near the tavern, located just outside the Woodstock City Limits. What did they do?

Instead of enforcing the law and getting drunk or impaired drivers off the road, the District Captain of the State Police notified senior command personnel at the sheriff's department that I (by name) had requested the checkpoint. The following week my name was all over the sheriff's department.

Do cops drive drunk? You bet. And they count on the "brotherhood" to protect them, if they get stopped? Absent a bad wreck, how often do you read about a deputy or police officer being arrested for DUI?

Yet the sheriff's department will set up a blitz and arrest drivers leaving a public event near Richmond where alcohol was served all day illegally.

A double standard? You bet! This needs to stop, and it needs to stop right now. The public must know about it, in order to demand that these things stop.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

You are mad you could never cut it as a cop and want revenge on all other cops. You definitely show your distaste for any law enforcement.

Gus said...

Wrong on all three, ace.

Unknown said...

wow frank, you are stepping up with some attitude. lol

Pott Gusphil said...

Gus,

Have you ever considered the fact that law enforcement lives by a much higher standard that Joe citizen? You continually second-guess a police officer's/department's motives, intentions, etc., to what avail? I can tell you that those in law enforcement live by a much higher standard than what you are insenuating on this post, and they should. Petty things that an average citizen wouldn't get into trouble for can cost an officer his/her job. Don't believe me? An officer can be disciplined at work for incidences that occur off-duty to a much greater magnitude (including being fired) than that of a school teacher/garbage man/corporate executive, etc.

Gus, what do you have against the police? Are there some bad apples in law enforcement? Certainly - in what profession isn't there any? An overwhelming majority are law-abiding citizens who look forward to helping citizens as a part of their job (and oath). Do you really KNOW any area police officers, Gus? You go to far...

Zane said...

Being a cop doesn't make you a special person. Being a person who understands that, makes you a special kind of cop.

Gus said...

The (good) cops who know me, know that I don't have a thing against good cops. It's the bad apples who ought to find other work - out of law enforcement.

Unfortunately, most of the good cops are afraid to stick their necks out and speak up, because they know they'll get their heads lopped off. Look around; see who is slinging their weight around and playing tough guy. It's not the good cops.

Unknown said...

the good cops who know you, yea, they laugh at you.

Gus said...

Do you ever wonder why so few cops are posting comments here? Fear. If they speak out, they might get identified. If they get identified, they will get fired. That's a rotten part of the system. Fortunately, some are speaking out by providing information to me. I don't make this stuff up.