I've been known to chastise my self publicly for doing stupid things, After reading about this cop's misadventure, I suddenly dont feel stupid anymore.
January 17, 2002 5:13 PM   Subscribe

 
Huh? Actually what the cop did seems like the right thing to do. He suspected the person had drugs, however he had no legal right to hold the guy, so he had to let him go. This is the cost of civil liberties.

"At the time the driver left the scene, Buckley said, officers had no reason to hold him. At worst, the man had a traffic warning, and under Illinois law, speeding does not give police the right to take a person into custody.
posted by phatboy at 5:20 PM on January 17, 2002


This cop's "misadventure" doesn't seem stupid at all. In fact, I wish there were more cops like him (ie, police officers concerned about protecting one's civil liberties in the course of their duties rather than trampling them).
posted by Kikkoman at 5:21 PM on January 17, 2002


phatboy - yeah, true. But he still musta FELT stupid when they found the dope.
posted by jonmc at 5:22 PM on January 17, 2002


bad cop, bad reporter and bad drug trafficker who SPEEDS in his motorhome while carrying an enormous amount of weed.

you'd think that amount of dope would have killed the dog.
posted by tsarfan at 5:23 PM on January 17, 2002


ok bad thread...matt, if your redaing go ahead and delete. I really ain't that bright am I?
posted by jonmc at 5:23 PM on January 17, 2002


I wouldn't go that far. It's an interesting legal gray area. I suppose that some who feel civil liberties go too far would point to this case. Not that I would agree.
posted by argybarg at 5:33 PM on January 17, 2002


The thread's fine, jonmc. There are plenty of people who believe the guy should have been cuffed and stuffed as soon as the cop suspected dope.
posted by jpoulos at 5:39 PM on January 17, 2002


Why bad reporter? Story is clear.
posted by Slagman at 5:50 PM on January 17, 2002


jpoulos-thanx. actually, I was looking for a link to go with the comment(y'know to go with the "stupid" theme) which is an assbackward way of constructing a good thread. I originally was gonna go with this story about a guy in england who drove down the hiway with a bag containing 10,000 pounds that he left on the roof. As some one who once drove 15 miles with a computer mouse on his roof(amazingly it stayed on), it hit too close to home.
I know your trying to make me feel better, but lets face it, I post bad links, I make crude comments and I listen to Twisted Sister. Just put me on the short bus and drive me over to FARK.com where I can mix with my own kind.
posted by jonmc at 5:50 PM on January 17, 2002


But how did the mouse get on top of your car in the first place? That's what I want to know..
posted by Apoch at 6:24 PM on January 17, 2002


Apoch-I bought the computer from a freind. packed it in the car, forgot about the mouse, barelled down the highway. I also once, in an attempt to create a new cocktail, mixed Skyy vodka with Mountain Dew Code Red. The results were not pretty.
posted by jonmc at 6:28 PM on January 17, 2002


I've been known to chastise my self publicly for doing stupid things...

Hey, you're right! :-)
posted by jpoulos at 7:57 PM on January 17, 2002


"drove down the hiway with a bag containing 10,000 pounds"

Damn I'm slow. I'm thinking "How the hell can the car support 10,000 pounds on the roof?
posted by ODiV at 9:12 PM on January 17, 2002


Seems like a good cop to me.
posted by Nothing at 9:22 PM on January 17, 2002


I also once, in an attempt to create a new cocktail, mixed Skyy vodka with Mountain Dew Code Red.

Try cheap vodka and grape Crush. Wait, don't.

I think he must have felt pretty stupid, but I was heartened to hear that there are cops out there that don't rip into people's cars on the slightest suspicion. Contrast that with the cops here that would wait outside the head shop and try to convince people they had the right to search their cars since, after all, they had just come out of a head shop.
posted by kittyloop at 9:35 PM on January 17, 2002


Why bad reporter? Story is clear.

For starters, the lede is a bit awkward:

When a Pontoon Beach police officer let a suspected drug trafficker ride off in a cab, he was acting cautiously to protect the man's civil liberties, a Madison County prosecutor said Wednesday.

It would probably be clearer like this:

A Pontoon Beach police officer allowed a suspected drug trafficker to ride off in a cab Wednesday in efforts to protect the man's civil liberties, a Madison County prosecutor said Wednesday.
posted by brittney at 9:35 PM on January 17, 2002


bad reporting because there are so many unanswered basic questions.

the first being, "how much did the drug trafficker with 698.5 pounds of pot pay the cop to let him call a cab and go to the airport."

or "how come they didnt just put him in the cop car as they tried to find the 698.5 pounds of weed that the dog had no problem smelling?"

the original story makes it seem like right away the cop could see the weed buldging from out of the couch.

is this reporter trying to tell me that Illinois is a state where cops pull you over to "warn" you about driving 5 MPH over the limit, and even if the dog smells weed, and even if your story doesn't match up with your paperwork, if you can call a cab to pick you up to drive you away before the cops can get a search warrant, it's all good?

what's so special about cabs? can a brother just run?

something smells funny in pontoon beach.
posted by tsarfan at 11:11 PM on January 17, 2002


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