Transcript of Candid Interview with a Bellevue Police Officer<\/p>\n
Officer: What would you like to know? I\u2019ll tell you anything you want to know<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: I\u2019d like to know if there was a victim.<\/p>\n
Officer: She crossed over a railroad crossing with the lights still flashing<\/p>\n
Interviewer: 1: Right, Was there a victim though or was there a complainant? <\/p>\n
Officer: The complainant was me when she went over the railroad tracks<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: it affected you? <\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Were you injured in some way? <\/p>\n
Officer: No.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Then why did you pull her over?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Why did you think you had the right to?<\/p>\n
Officer: Because that\u2019s a traffic violation according to state code<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Why did you think you had the right to?<\/p>\n
Officer: That\u2019s a traffic violation according to state code.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Sodomy is also illegal. Do we also<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: So you\u2019re saying that you\u2019re doing your job even though you admitted there is no victim?<\/p>\n
Officer: I\u2019m not going to get into a beef about this with you<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: I\u2019m just (also trying to talk over) <\/p>\n
Officer: I\u2019m just telling you right now that that\u2019s what I pulled her over for<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: so you\u2019re saying you are just doing your job even though you admitted there is no victim but yourself<\/p>\n
Officer: it\u2019s a violation of state code that you\u2019re not allowed to go over a railroad crossing when the gates are flashing. I\u2019m telling you right now what I stopped her for.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: So, I\u2019m asking you, you\u2019re allowing your own actions to be directed by some text on paper. What happens when that text on paper harms peaceful people who haven\u2019t caused victims?<\/p>\n
Officer: what How did I harm her? By giving her a written uh <\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Because you made her stop<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Yea, you interfered. She was scared.<\/p>\n
Officer: No you\u2019re making assumptions<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: You had a gun sir. We are scared of that<\/p>\n
Officer: You could have asked her if she was afraid but you didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: I bet she was.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: I\u2019m assuming if someone had a gun and sirens I would be afraid.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: (also talking)<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Sir what would you have done if she did not stop.<\/p>\n
Officer: What are you talking about?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: You said there was no victim but yourself. You haven\u2019t been able to prove any demonstrate able harm yet you claim the right to be able to pull her over and why?<\/p>\n
Officer: If you guys want to talk, you can get out of the roadway and so you\u2019re not standing in the middle of the road. <\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Ok that would be great. <\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Ok, my question sir, you said she went across the lights, a railroad, she violated a state ordnance but you said you were the victim, but can you show how you were harmed?<\/p>\n
Officer: uh I didn\u2019t say, uh I said that I didn\u2019t say that. I the violation was by the Ohio state code said I enforced the Ohio revised state code<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Do you enforce all of Ohio\u2019s code laws?<\/p>\n
(Multiple people asking questions and the officer talking at once.)<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Who\u2019s the victim?<\/p>\n
Officer: The victim is a uh the state code?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: What is the state?<\/p>\n
Officer: That\u2019s the state code.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: But at one time state code said that if you house someone who was escaping from slavery you should return them.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: You should return them.<\/p>\n
Officer: So we went from a traffic stop to slavery?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: No, it\u2019s about the law.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: No, you said you were following the law. I\u2019m trying to point out that sometimes manmade legislation doesn\u2019t sync with natural law, common law or God\u2019s law<\/p>\n
Officer: Ok that\u2019s a debate you have to take with law makers<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: But you\u2019re hurting people you\u2019re violating people we know.<\/p>\n
Officer: Are you going to let me talk?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: But you\u2019re hurting that woman\u2019s rights. You\u2019re violating that woman\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Just let him talk<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: I\u2019m Sorry<\/p>\n
Officer: Alright, if you don\u2019t feel that statue is right that is something you have to talk with to your law makers. I don\u2019t make the law. I just have to enforce it.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Do you enforce all laws? <\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: If it was against the law to house slaves, would you enforce that law?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: No? Yes? You would? <\/p>\n
Officer: Yes<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: You would actually<\/p>\n
Officer: To a certain point I can only to a certain point I. There\u2019s only so much I <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: So If pedophilia was legal, would you enforce that law? If it were legal would you allow that?<\/p>\n
Officer: If it were legal?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Yes, if it were legal would you allow that?<\/p>\n
Officer: So were\u2019 getting into a debate about \u2013 <\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: It\u2019s about what\u2019s right or wrong <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: I\u2019m just saying that if it was a law does that make it right? And how many laws would you enforce if it was against your moral conscience. And where do you draw that line? <\/p>\n
Officer: Well that, I mean right now there\u2019s nothing that I can see that\u2019s you know that makes it legal <\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: What if it was legal?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: But the thing is at the end of the day it\u2019s not a law, it\u2019s not text on paper some strangers made whom we\u2019ve never met who claim to server for us but they have no idea what our preferences are or how we want to pursue so<\/p>\n
Officer: so what you do is you vote people that<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: No, we vote every day with our actions and right now you\u2019re choosing to act based on some text someone put on paper that might not sync with you internally when you think about it and all I\u2019m saying is there could be a better way<\/p>\n
Officer: So, so it\u2019s a safety issue, say she\u2019s crossing that railaroad, a train had just passed and no gates had come down<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: We agree it\u2019s risky, it\u2019s risky. But the issue is why do you yourself feel that you have the right to pull her over? You say you\u2019re acting based on some text people put on paper, but why? Why not pull her over, why not say, hey I live your community I don\u2019t feel safe with you doing that. Ok cool. Like maybe she\u2019s cool about that. But we don\u2019t\u2019 need someone to follow blindly you know rules without thinking about it.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Especially given the victim. So, nobody was harmed.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Yea, Well she was harmed in this situation.<\/p>\n
Officer: But you never know<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: But it could have been. I could go out and murder somebody. Are you going to arrest me now before I commit an act? <\/p>\n
Officer: No<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: But before I harm someone, would you arrest me?<\/p>\n
Officer: No<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: No, because you don\u2019t have any proof that a harm was then taken place. <\/p>\n
Officer: um hmm<\/p>\n
Interview 3: So then you don\u2019t have any proof that any harm would have taken place. You\u2019re assuming that yourself that a harm would have taken place<\/p>\n
Officer: I didn\u2019t give a citation, it was just a warning <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: If she did it again, would you have given her a citation? If you witnessed her do it one more time, would you give her another warning or would you cite her? <\/p>\n
Officer: If she had done it again, I probably would have cited her. Well I don\u2019t know if<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: So you would eventually harm her for her harming no one. That is a monetary loss and it is harm. <\/p>\n
Officer: Would you mind standing out of the road.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: So monetary harm is harm even though she had not harmed anyone<\/p>\n
Officer: Well, it – we\u2019re getting into a debate with<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: It\u2019s not really a debate, it\u2019s just <\/p>\n
Officer: Well, <\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: It\u2019s about morality.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: It\u2019s just a fact. The fact of it that she has not caused any harm, and you are saying that you would harm her even though she has not cause such harm<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: By pulling her over it would be harm, I would think because she was on her way somewhere eventually. No I think that\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n
Officer: Well, I tell you, the \u2013 what you have issues with is what you feel is right and what other people think are right. <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Right<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: Do you think it\u2019s right that<\/p>\n
Officer: If you don\u2019t like the way of the legislation is wrote, the rules that would be something that<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: So, let me ask you, another thing. If let\u2019s say the legislater passed some law that you were morally opposed to, and you\u2019re a cop, would you enforce that even though you\u2019re morally opposed to it? Like if it\u2019s against your personal moral code.<\/p>\n
Officer: Morally opposed to it, hmm<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: Like if it were slavery<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Anything that you feel strongly against. would you commit that action just because it\u2019s law? To enforce such law just because it\u2019s law? Would you enforce any bad law or where would you draw your personal line?<\/p>\n
Officer: It depends on what you consider a bad law.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: No, it depends on what you consider a bad law in this example. If you can think of something that is against your personal moral code, how far would you go as a police officer to enforce it and what would you do if you found that line? Would you cross it just because you\u2019re a cop?<\/p>\n
Interviewer 1: It is hard to think about.<\/p>\n
Officer: I mean it\u2019s something that you would have to, until I was put in that situation, I don\u2019t know how I would react. <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: It might be something that you would want to think about because it is really your discretion. Police use discretion all the time for what laws they enforce and maybe a victimless crime is not that you might feel comfortable with doing if she hasn\u2019t\u2019 harmed anybody and it just might be something that you just can consider for the future you know? And really protecting what\u2019s right and going after real criminals who harm people. That\u2019s all we really advocate here.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: Did you need a couple more of these? (pamphlets)<\/p>\n
Officer: Ok, whatever you have to give me.<\/p>\n
Interviewer 2: I really appreciate you talking with us. <\/p>\n
Interviewer 3: We\u2019d like you to consider focusing less on victimless crimes in future, if you could we would appreciate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Transcript of Candid Interview with a Bellevue Police Officer Officer: What would you like to know? I\u2019ll tell you anything you want to know Interviewer 1: I\u2019d like to know if there was a victim. Officer: She crossed over a railroad crossing with the lights still flashing Interviewer: 1: Right, Was there a victim though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-93954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}