By Carlos Miller
Cops are allowed to shoot unarmed people at point blank range. They are allowed to stick tasers up people’s asses. And as we all know, they are allowed to arrest photographers whenever they feel like it.
Usually the worst that happens to them is that they get suspended with pay for a few days.
But in Stockton, Utah, they are not allowed to pull over the mayor’s son for a traffic violation.
That would get them suspended without pay.
When was the last time you heard of a cop getting suspended without pay?
Cpl. Joshua Rowell told KSL News he was just doing his job. He said he acted professionally when he wrote the driver a ticket and was shocked when he was suddenly asked to hand over his badge.
Rowell is a new member of the five-man Stockton police force. So, last Tuesday he didn’t think twice about pulling over a driver in a small white car for avoiding a DUI stop.
“He didn’t have a driver’s license, so I issued him a citation for that,” Rowell explained.
He didn’t think twice, that is, until he handed the ticket to the court clerk.
“She looked at it and said, ‘Hey, you know you just gave the mayor’s son a ticket?’ And I said, ‘Oh, crap,’” Rowell said.
Considering this all took place in Utah, I wonder what would happen if the mayor’s son tried to rap his order through a McDonald’s drive-thru.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 Difster // Nov 1, 2009 at 4:56 AM
That mayor is going to get some BAD press for that!
Not to nitpick Carlos, but even though this is an interesting story, it’s not photography related. Stay on task!
Start getting too far off with non-photography related stories and you’ll get totally overwhelmed. Let the Injustice News feed handle this stuff. Do what you do best, we all appreciate it.
2 Bryan // Nov 1, 2009 at 5:41 AM
So cops are above the law, and the mayor’s family even above the cops’ law? We should start trying to map all these layers of ‘law’…
3 Robert // Nov 1, 2009 at 5:52 AM
Actually i find it interesting, no matter where it comes from. Specially since I’m from utah let my family know about this, we will be staying away from stockton.
4 Michaelk42 // Nov 1, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Here’s a photography-related one for you:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20091031/NEWS/910310335
5 Scott Chamness // Nov 1, 2009 at 10:19 AM
$5 says that mayor isn’t gonna get re-elected.
6 Jay // Nov 1, 2009 at 1:24 PM
Abuse of power. Which is what this site is really all about. The people of Stockton, Utah should recall/impeach that mayor. Couldn’t HE be charged with obstruction of government administration? Pathetic.
7 Marty Kohn // Nov 1, 2009 at 9:05 PM
Abuse of Power by law enforcement. Does it stop at the police level? That’s all we hear about, but what about on the prosecutorial level? The case that sparked this blogs creation could have stopped at the street level by the prosecutor refusing to prosecute a bullshit case, yet they didn’t .
IMO the problem is larger than police misconduct, stupid cops will be stupid cops. Their interpretation or misinterpretation of the law is supposed to be kept in check by prosecutors. The bigger problem that endangers our liberties and freedoms is one step up from the cops yet there is virtually no one reporting on it…
8 Kol. Klink // Nov 1, 2009 at 9:23 PM
Police always, without fail, for all their short history, SERVE & PROTECT.
Maybe this officer watched too much Law and Order pap for the masses, but he did forgot WHOM he serves and protects.
Hint: it isn’t the common people.
9 Jacob // Nov 1, 2009 at 11:55 PM
Marty: And one step up from the prosecutors are the judges, most of whom were former prosecutors. Just visualize the banjo picker in the movie Deliverance and you see the result of these incestuous corrupt relationships in the legal community.
At least the banjo picker was good at something which didn’t harm anyone…..
10 MacK // Nov 2, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Most are onto the mayor, me I’m looking at it in a different light.
The cop should be fired for making the illegal stop in the first place.
11 Jay // Nov 2, 2009 at 2:20 PM
@MacK: What are Utah’s laws for “avoiding a DUI stop.” The article has no facts about how he avoided the stop. I agree with you, if the “avoiding” was legal (meaning he didn’t break any traffic laws or run afoul of Utah’s laws), then the cop is wrong as the mayor was.
12 mepsipax // Nov 2, 2009 at 2:44 PM
It’s a big circle of wrong in my opinion. However, the corrupt will continue to be elected and employed. They are good at fooling people but people make it really easy with their apathy.
13 Jerry // Nov 2, 2009 at 5:22 PM
I suspect that the “DUI stop” was probably a checkpoint. There is no law in California that I am aware of for “avoiding” them. However, I can tell you from personal experience that you will get an evil eye from the cops if you do. (No, not drinking, in one case I did not feel like waiting in line and the second my destination required the turn before it).
However, Utah law on avoiding may differ…
Jerry
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