This stuff is getting out of hand. Another case of no good deed goes unpunished.
CHICAGO "” Treffly Coyne was out of her car for just minutes and no more than 10 yards away.[/b]
But that was long and far enough to land her in court after a police officer spotted her sleeping 2-year-old daughter alone in the vehicle; Coyne had taken her two older daughters to pour $8.29 in coins into a Salvation Army kettle.
Minutes later, she was under arrest "” the focus of both a police investigation and a probe by the state's child welfare agency. Now the case that has become an Internet flash point for people who either blast police for overstepping their authority or Coyne for putting a child in danger.
The 36-year-old suburban mother is preparing to go on trial Thursday on misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and obstructing a peace officer. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,500, even though child welfare workers found no credible evidence of abuse or neglect.
On Dec. 8 Coyne decided to drive to Wal-Mart in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood so her children and a young friend could donate the coins they'd collected at her husband's office.
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[/align]Even as she buckled 2-year-old Phoebe into the car, the girl was asleep. When Coyne arrived at the store, she found a spot to park in a loading zone, right behind someone tying a Christmas tree onto a car.
"It's sleeting out, it's not pleasant, I don't want to disturb her, wake her up," Coyne said this week. "It was safer to leave her in the safety and warmth of an alarmed car than take her."
So Coyne switched on the emergency flashers, locked the car, activated the alarm and walked the other children to the bell ringer.
She snapped a few pictures of the girls donating money and headed back to the car. But a community service officer blocked her way.
"She was on a tirade, she was yelling at me," Coyne said. The officer, Coyne said, didn't want to hear about how close Coyne was, how she never set foot inside the store and was just there to let the kids donate money, or how she could always see her car.
Coyne telephoned her husband, Tim Janecyk, who advised her not to say anything else to police until he arrived. So Coyne declined to talk further, refusing even to tell police her child's name.
When Janecyk pulled up, his wife already was handcuffed, sitting in a patrol car.
Crestwood Police Chief Timothy Sulikowski declined to comment about the case. But he did not dispute the contention that Coyne parked nearby or was away from her car for just a few minutes.
He did, however, suggest Coyne put her child at risk.
"A minute or two, that's when things can happen," he said.
So Coyne switched on the emergency flashers, locked the car, activated the alarm and walked the other children to the bell ringer.
Is it possible to turn on the emergency flashers and activate the alarm? I think on my system, the electrical pulses from the flashers would set off the alarm.
But, I agree, police gone overboard. I'd bet about 95%+ of their time is spent in revenue generation not having anything to do with the concept of "protect and serve."
So in the raid where a citizen mistakenly shot a police officer, the citizen is facing a murder charge; in the raid where a police officer shot a citizen, prosecutors declined to press charges.
Over the last quarter century, we've seen an astonishing rise in paramilitary police tactics by police departments across America. Peter Kraksa, professor of criminology at the University of Eastern Kentucky, ran a 20-year survey of SWAT team deployments and determined that they have increased 1,500 percent since the early 1980s "” mostly to serve nonviolent drug warrants.
I agree, too many cops are getting out of hand. I'll add the obligatory most cops are good line but I'm even begining to question that. Though themajority of officers don't cross the line, it seems the majority are also quite willing to keep silent when one of them does. It's pretty hard to respect that.
There aremany poorly-behaved police officers out there. There are also manyidiotic parents who leave children unatteneded in vehicles. Which is the bigger problem?
Id say that with regard to this thread, It doesn't matter which problem is bigger. Either cops are getting outta hand (note thread title) or they aren't. I'm assuming you don't mean to imply that "idiotic parents who leave children unatteneded in vehicles" is the cause of cops outta hand. Or are you?
I'm saying I don't think it is out of hand to arrest a mother who leaves an infant unattended in a vehicle. She will get due process. What's the problem here?
Well it sure looks like an overreaction to me but I think the point being made here is a much larger one than this one case.
I think the point is an invalid one. Police may or may not be getting out of hand, but this arrest really has nothing to do with it either way. If you guys want to make a point for police abuse, try using a serious example.
Cops Outta hand???????????
