The McHenry County Sheriff's Garage is sporting new signs at the entrance to its garage facility on Russel Court.The last time I was by there, it was to photograph the squad car of a deputy who ran off Dean Street early one Monday morning. He reportedly indicated that a deer ran out in front of him, but it appeared to me that the car had just drifted off the road, rather than swerving off.
The crash report was one of the most simplistic I have read. It was basically worthless. It was an excellent example of how NOT to write a Crash Report, because it was impossible to learn anything important about the crash.
While I was there photographing the squad car, I was asked what I was doing, and I explained my reason. The deputy who asked me was polite and accepted my answer.
But now they have claimed the property and marked it with this warning. I wonder what force of law the sign actually has. Can a department of the County actually draw a line in the grass and threaten anyone who crosses it with arrest?
It is County property. It's a parking lot. It is taxpayer-supported. I wonder if the restriction was approved by the County Board.
Questions, questions, questions.... Answers to follow.
6 comments:
C'mom Gus, of course they can limit public access to some or parts of their facilities. As they should. And they don't need the approval of the County Board. The Sheriff would be remiss in his duties if he didn't. You/I/We/Me have no business walking around any part of the Sheriff's facilities without prior approval. What's next, a stroll through the lockup?
I beg to differ with you Big Daddy. What are they afraid of? It's a parking lot. What happened to transparency? Admit it Nyg and Zink are both getting caught NOT following the law and or NOT doing their job, they want to hide from the cameras.
Transparency and someone wandering around a parking lot are two different things. Should they allow someone to enter the garage as well? It is after all,just a garage. And what about my question about the lockup? It is after all, just a lockup. Are you allowed to wander anywhere you want at your place of work? Or at the local Sear or Target stores? What about the Post Office? Do they let you past the counter? Perhaps we should be allowed to take a peek at Obamas bedroom? He did after all promise transparency. Would you be allowed to enter a military base without authorization? If you think so I suggest a ride out to Great Lakes is in order. In my entire time as a policeman I never once would allow someone too enter a place that they were not authorized to be in. And I wasn't doing anything wrong nor did I have antything to hide.They were not allowed behind the desk, in the garage, in the parking lot, in the lockup or anywhere else.
I don't know this guy Nyg or Zink. I don't know if they are trying to hide anything. I don't even know if they are doing anything wrong. But I do know that their are places in police stations that the general public does not belong. It's called security. And I applaud them for protecting government property from who knows what. This "transparency" thing can only go so far. This "I'm a taxpayer, I get to know, go anywhere, do anything or see whatever I want to" also goes only so far. I'm a taxpayer as well as everyone else and I do not want people just wandering around government property.
BTW Gus, I failed to mention it in my first post. I don't know if you are familar with how a Traffic Crash Report is filled out. There are codes that are used to simplfy and reduce the amount of time spent on completeing one. So if you are basing your assertion that this particular crash report was filled out haphazardly or incorrectly based upon what is in the narrative, the codes will tell anyone trained in filling out the report what actually happened. Just sayin.
Big Daddy, I don't know if there are enough bytes left in cyberspace to refute your argument about access to government property. Nobody is talking about entering a secure, private or hazardous area.
No doubt it will generate discussion, and I thank you for that.
Yes, I am familiar with the little boxes on the crash report. There are templates to assist officers in completing those boxes correctly.
The narrative of the Crash Report for the damaged squad car read, "DU#1 was traveling north bound [sic] on Dean St. and struck a sign, on the right side of the roadway while avoiding a deer."
Full and complete; right? Doesn't leave any unanswered questions; right?
Yes Gus, it is possible that the narrative combined with the other information on the report explains the crash. What other information are you looking for. And yes Gus a parking lot is or should be a secured area. I'm sure you will admit that there is a varity of crimes that can occur in a parking lot. Things like theft, the placement of things that go boom on the underside of squad cars, arson, CDTV etc. Gus, you are a taxpayer like me. That's it. It doesn't mean I own the place or that I get to do what I want whenever I want. And if the Sheriff did allow unfettered access to that parking lot and a crime did occurr, you would be one of the first to ask why it wasn't guarded. And a week later you would complain about the cost of that guard. Or you would ask why someone was allowed into the parking lot unattended. Sorry Gus, I gotta disagree with you on this one.
Big Daddy, I'd only complain about the cost of the Supervisor of the parking lot guard. And the cost of the supervisor's Manager, and the manager's Director, and the director's Commander. All those salaries would cost so much that the guard would have to be fired.
I guess next the MCSD parking lot will be off-limits to the common folk, and they'll install a secure bridge to the east door of the courthouse.
Oh, and maybe an electric fence around the white school buses parking in the west parking lot.
And then a guard for security at each deputy's residence to guard his take-home car while he's sleeping.
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