Did Cop Cross Thin Blue Line?
Last Thursday there was a tiny blurb in The Capital about an off duty accident involving an Annapolis City Policeman. It appears he was headed home after a shift on his personal motorcycle on Sunday May 31, 2009 and was traveling at a high rate of speed (ok, we all do this on occasion) and made an abrupt lane change–into a lane that was being shut down for construction.
The officer, Edwin Caraballo, an officer for one year on the force, suffered knee and arm injuries and was knocked unconscious in the 11:00pm crash according to state police.
At this point, it is a tragic accident. But upon investigation, it is revealed
- His motorcycle has an expired registration
- He does not have motor vehicle insurance on the motorcycle
- He does not have the proper endorsement/training to operate the motorcycle
While The Capital did not address this, it does indeed beg the question: do our police officers get a free pass when it comes to complying with the law? It is reasonable to assume that this uninsured, unlicensed cop driving a motorcycle on an expired registration parked his bike in the police department parking lot leveral times in the past year.
Has he given out tickets this year for the very violations of which he himself is guilty? Does the police department have any policies in effect to make sure that the officers who are supposed to enforce the law are indeed compliant?
While the injuries are not life threatening and the officer will recover, should he be allowed to resume his duties as a police officer? An expired registration can be an oversight, lapsed insurance is harder to do, and driving a vehicle which you are not legally qualified to drive…come on!
Um, hello, Annapolis doesn’t HAVE a police department: I’ve lived in this city for 20+ years and if you need law enforcement for any reason, you better pray a county or state police officer is available! Annapolis cops –oops, I mean– “cops” are embarrasing specimens who simply can’t get jobs with legitimate police departments. Because of the “recent” crime wave we’ve all known about but no one local did anything about, our city got a grant from the state…which resulted in legitimate police officers moving in from outside departments. Those legitimate officers cracked down on serious crime and crime stats went down temporarily.
But now the grant is over and we’re back to our fat boys/girls parking their cruisers around the dock and risking their lives every day…by raising their cholesterol levels!
So should the loser cop in the above article be allowed to keep his job? Heck, yes! He survived a pointless accident he caused, which makes him the healthiest/smartest guy on the “force”! ;)
Speaking of police in general:
One of my cars had the thin blue line bumper sticker. Cops used to speed up to wave to me. I was never pulled over when that sticker was on my car. In my defense, I only get pulled over once or twice a decade even without the sticker.
Those stickers do amazing things for drivers, which is why law enforcement officers give them out to family and friends. They are less common than the FOP stickers that everybody seems to have.
Upon whose investigation were details of officer’s lack of proper paperwork revealed? The Capital’s. And as “tiny blurb” noted, any disciplinary action will be addressed upon his return. Guess you have to sell, well, other people’s work.