I have mixed feelings about this:
CARMEL, Ind. -- She could be home preparing dinner or planting flowers, but Ruth Stahly is spending the afternoon clocking speeders.Armed with a police-issued radar gun, she watches as a four-door Honda heads in her direction on Adios Pass. The speed limit here is 25 mph, but a lot of drivers ignore it."Thirty-one. Thirty-two. Thirty-three," Stahly says, announcing the gun's digital readout as the Honda approaches."I need to stand here to get the plate," says Beth Heck, her partner in community policing.Stahly and Heck -- stay-at-home moms and part-time community activists -- are recruits in a growing campaign against that ever-constant source of anxiety in America's suburbs: the speeding neighbor.
On the one hand, it's risky giving police powers to civilians. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind having one of those radar guns so I could nail some of those maniacs who come barrelling off the Bluffton Road Bridge and down my street at 60 miles an hour.
Comments
Leo:
Sign ME up for that....and can I get a video camera so I can chronicle the BOOMCARS that acoustically terrorize us as well?
If cities want Community-Oriented Policing...this seems a good starting point.
(technically-speaking...there IS still in place the "citizen's arrest" aspect...remember Gomer on Mayberry...LOL)
In some parts of most major cities (Fort Wayne doesn't get out of this one), you can get accosted (or shot) for doing NOTHING...let alone doing SOMETHING, like trying to make the city SAFER.
Thing is....is it better to keep one's head in the sand, or pull it out and take a look around and try to make a difference?
B.G.
You ought to send this to Glen Reynolds. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for a Army of Davids plug.