Pubdate: Wed, 29 May 2002
Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN)
Copyright: 2002 Kingsport Publishing Corporation
Contact:  http://www.timesnews.net/index.cgi
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437
Note:  Will not publish letters in print editions from online users who do 
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have some current connection to Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
Author: Jim Richards

PULL ME OVER - I'VE GOT NOTHING TO HIDE

I have, with some frequency, pointed to my support of the police department 
as they perform their duties and am inclined to give them latitude in the 
area of personal discretion. I suppose there is just enough fascist in me 
to believe that if we can curb crime at the expense of temporarily 
inconveniencing a few motorists, then we made a pretty good bargain.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to test my feelings in this regard 
against personal experience.

After a performance at A.R.T. (Appalachian Repertory Theatre) on John B. 
Dennis, I made my exit through one of our driveways that is shared with a 
used car dealership. The driveway is primarily asphalt but has a layer of 
loose gravel on it, and as I applied the brake I slid just a bit before my 
car came to a stop. I waited there to merge into southbound traffic.

Seeing an opening in the onrushing line of headlights, I accelerated into 
the right lane when the car coming up behind me slowed dramatically instead 
of pulling into the left lane and passing me by. Almost immediately the 
bubble gum machine atop the cruiser came on, and I pulled over to be 
approached by a lady officer and member of Kingsport's finest.

I didn't think I had merged dangerously and knew I hadn't had time to work 
up enough speed to be exceeding the limit. I thought maybe a tail or brake 
light had gone out.

I watched her through my rearview mirror as she approached with caution and 
wondered when she tugged at the hatchback of my car on her way by. I 
discovered later that new procedure requires officers to check to see if 
trunks are locked when they approach a driver. This was implemented when 
one policeman was ambushed by a gunman hiding in the trunk. The thug came 
out firing after the officer had his back turned and had engaged the driver 
in conversation.

The lady was very polite and asked to see my driver's license. She then 
inquired about why I was coming out of the used car lot at that hour of the 
night. The Appalachian Repertory Theatre is set back from the street, and 
it isn't immediately apparent that the theatre parking lot is even back there.

Once I explained that to her, she told me that the car lots in the area had 
been suffering losses to vandals and thieves and that they were watching 
the car lots very closely. She thanked me for my trouble and sent me on my way.

I recall wondering at the time, in an academic sense, where was her 
probable cause for stopping me. So far as I know, there is no crime in 
coming out of a used car lot at night. Many I know would cling to that 
aspect of the experience and whine about their "rights" being violated.

I didn't.

Perhaps knowing an officer who was involved in a shooting as the result of 
the traffic stop of an enraged and drunken driver, I tend to think of these 
things through the eyes of the officer.

I know if I were a cop I would not look forward to the prospect of pulling 
over yet another car that might contain someone violent. Police have to 
play that lottery each time they make the decision to pull someone over.

Maybe it sounds solicitous, but I felt good about the experience. If there 
is a rotten apple in the bunch, I do not object to being one of the good 
apples that must be gone through in order to find it.

It just seems to me that if we would get behind police efforts to find 
those among us who prey upon the city, Kingsport might just become a better 
place to live. Some are anxious to haul out scare words like "police state" 
and hyperventilate over the potential for abuse of such power.

I tend to believe that if officers abuse their powers they will be weeded 
out by the very people we've charged with the responsibility of maintaining 
order in the community.

Anytime the police want to pull me over to re-establish the fact that I'm 
not running drugs or carrying stolen goods, they are welcome to do so.

Maybe having our delicate sensibilities wiggled once in awhile will remind 
us of the impossible task with which they are charged.

Jim Richards is managing director of the Appalachian Repertory Theatre. 
E-mail him at Comment on this article with a letter to the Your View section of the 
Times-News.
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