Police Defend Actions Taken In Officer's Traffic Stop
Officer Is Suspended For Two Days
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Police spokesmen from two departments are defending a traffic stop last fall involving a Des Moines police officer.
KCCI received an anonymous letter in the mail Thursday from someone who provided detailed information about a months-old West Des Moines police traffic stop of an off-duty Des Moines officer.
Now, both departments confirm the stop happened, and they defend how they handled it.
The stop happened shortly after midnight on Sept. 22 on the freeway in West Des Moines.
A West Des Moines officer clocked a car at 99 mph in a 55 mph zone. The officer pulled over the car and learned it was an unmarked Des Moines police car. Police said Des Moines police narcotics Officer Stewart Drake was driving.
"He could smell some alcohol and he had bloodshot eyes," said West Des Moines police spokesman Lt. Mike Ficcola.
West Des Moines police called in the Des Moines Police Department's supervisor on duty, who came to the scene and picked up the Des Moines officer.
"Apparently, he had an attitude with the officer, so he thought instead of writing him a ticket and going through that, that it would be better served to call Des Moines and have Des Moines deal with him internally," Ficcola said.
"The watch commander on duty came out to that location and had a conversation with the West Des Moines officer, and subsequently ended up taking that officer home," said Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Todd Dykstra.
The West Des Moines officer did not test Drake for alcohol or ticket him.
"Traffic stops, arrests, for the most part, is officer discretion," Ficcola said.
"The officer was not on duty, he was speeding excessively and he was driving a city vehicle. As a result, those actions are inappropriate and the administration took the actions they felt was appropriate for the situation," Dykstra said.
Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy suspended Drake for two days and stripped him of his city-owned take-home car.
"The officer has served his two-day suspension, and the take-home vehicle has been taken away from him, so he no longer has a city vehicle to drive, and in our minds he served his punishment," Dykstra said.
Ficcola said that Drake apologized to West Des Moines Police Chief Jack O'Donnell and to the two West Des Moines officers involved in the traffic stop.
West Des Moines' police spokesman said his chief did not launch an internal review because the department gives its officers discretion in handling traffic stops.
Next article:
Reinforce ban against preferential treatment
It's basic: Police must treat everyone equally.
March 4, 2006
A West Des Moines traffic stop that resulted in preferential treatment of a Des Moines police officer calls for reinforcement of the bedrock principle of equal treatment under the law.
When an officer stops someone for questioning, it must not matter whether that person is a beggar or a police officer. All should be treated the same.
In September, Des Moines police officer Stewart Drake was driving 99 mph on I-235. The West Des Moines police officer who pulled him over thought he smelled alcohol on Drake's breath, but didn't test him or cite him for speeding. Instead, the West Des Moines officer called Drake's supervisor, who drove to the scene and picked him up.
Apparently the officer thought Drake would face tougher consequences at work, according to a department spokesman.
"I think our officer felt in talking to (Drake) that more would happen if he turned him over to Des Moines and let Des Moines deal with him," the spokesman told the Register.
What Des Moines did: suspended Drake for two days without pay and took away the department car he'd taken on his joy ride. What Drake would have faced if he had been treated like anyone else: a potential drunken-driving charge; thousands of dollars in costs and a suspended license if convicted; higher insurance premiums; maybe some jail time; and information about the incident released to the public.
But preferential treatment between officers has its benefits - if you're the officer, that is.
If you're just a typical Iowan, you're put at risk when a cop or anyone else drives at high speeds.
And what does Drake have to say about it? When reached for comment by a Register reporter, he said he didn't think the incident was "anybody's business other than mine and the police department's."
No, it's the public's business that an officer paid by the public to protect the public is perhaps driving drunk, zipping along 44 mph over the speed limit and putting the public in danger.
It's also the public's business that a possibly drunk and speeding police officer faced no criminal consequences for his action and then the whole thing was covered up in an act of brotherly courtesy, until the Register learned of the story.
That's not supposed to happen. According to Penny Westfall, director of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, officer trainees receive ethics training that includes teaching them all people should be treated equally.
"Whether an officer, a reporter or a known personality, they should treat them all the same," she said.
In fact, trainees are told the community has even higher expectations: "Don't do anything to put you or another officer in a difficult position," she said.
The officers involved in this traffic stop forgot those lessons. It's not too late to reprimand them and enroll them in an ethics refresher course.
Failure to follow ethical principles and enforce them sends the message to other officers and the public that you can get away with breaking the law - at least until the local newspaper finds out. And that gives all law-enforcement officers a bad name.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060304/OPINION03/603040378/1110
I wonder, if a non badge wearing citizen, pulled over, 99 MPH in a 55, smells of alcohol, blood shot eyes, would the officer use discretion, and let him go?
Well said.
Officer Is Suspended For Two Days
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Police spokesmen from two departments are defending a traffic stop last fall involving a Des Moines police officer.
KCCI received an anonymous letter in the mail Thursday from someone who provided detailed information about a months-old West Des Moines police traffic stop of an off-duty Des Moines officer.
Now, both departments confirm the stop happened, and they defend how they handled it.
The stop happened shortly after midnight on Sept. 22 on the freeway in West Des Moines.
A West Des Moines officer clocked a car at 99 mph in a 55 mph zone. The officer pulled over the car and learned it was an unmarked Des Moines police car. Police said Des Moines police narcotics Officer Stewart Drake was driving.
"He could smell some alcohol and he had bloodshot eyes," said West Des Moines police spokesman Lt. Mike Ficcola.
West Des Moines police called in the Des Moines Police Department's supervisor on duty, who came to the scene and picked up the Des Moines officer.
"Apparently, he had an attitude with the officer, so he thought instead of writing him a ticket and going through that, that it would be better served to call Des Moines and have Des Moines deal with him internally," Ficcola said.
"The watch commander on duty came out to that location and had a conversation with the West Des Moines officer, and subsequently ended up taking that officer home," said Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Todd Dykstra.
The West Des Moines officer did not test Drake for alcohol or ticket him.
"Traffic stops, arrests, for the most part, is officer discretion," Ficcola said.
"The officer was not on duty, he was speeding excessively and he was driving a city vehicle. As a result, those actions are inappropriate and the administration took the actions they felt was appropriate for the situation," Dykstra said.
Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy suspended Drake for two days and stripped him of his city-owned take-home car.
"The officer has served his two-day suspension, and the take-home vehicle has been taken away from him, so he no longer has a city vehicle to drive, and in our minds he served his punishment," Dykstra said.
Ficcola said that Drake apologized to West Des Moines Police Chief Jack O'Donnell and to the two West Des Moines officers involved in the traffic stop.
West Des Moines' police spokesman said his chief did not launch an internal review because the department gives its officers discretion in handling traffic stops.
Next article:
Reinforce ban against preferential treatment
It's basic: Police must treat everyone equally.
March 4, 2006
A West Des Moines traffic stop that resulted in preferential treatment of a Des Moines police officer calls for reinforcement of the bedrock principle of equal treatment under the law.
When an officer stops someone for questioning, it must not matter whether that person is a beggar or a police officer. All should be treated the same.
In September, Des Moines police officer Stewart Drake was driving 99 mph on I-235. The West Des Moines police officer who pulled him over thought he smelled alcohol on Drake's breath, but didn't test him or cite him for speeding. Instead, the West Des Moines officer called Drake's supervisor, who drove to the scene and picked him up.
Apparently the officer thought Drake would face tougher consequences at work, according to a department spokesman.
"I think our officer felt in talking to (Drake) that more would happen if he turned him over to Des Moines and let Des Moines deal with him," the spokesman told the Register.
What Des Moines did: suspended Drake for two days without pay and took away the department car he'd taken on his joy ride. What Drake would have faced if he had been treated like anyone else: a potential drunken-driving charge; thousands of dollars in costs and a suspended license if convicted; higher insurance premiums; maybe some jail time; and information about the incident released to the public.
But preferential treatment between officers has its benefits - if you're the officer, that is.
If you're just a typical Iowan, you're put at risk when a cop or anyone else drives at high speeds.
And what does Drake have to say about it? When reached for comment by a Register reporter, he said he didn't think the incident was "anybody's business other than mine and the police department's."
No, it's the public's business that an officer paid by the public to protect the public is perhaps driving drunk, zipping along 44 mph over the speed limit and putting the public in danger.
It's also the public's business that a possibly drunk and speeding police officer faced no criminal consequences for his action and then the whole thing was covered up in an act of brotherly courtesy, until the Register learned of the story.
That's not supposed to happen. According to Penny Westfall, director of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, officer trainees receive ethics training that includes teaching them all people should be treated equally.
"Whether an officer, a reporter or a known personality, they should treat them all the same," she said.
In fact, trainees are told the community has even higher expectations: "Don't do anything to put you or another officer in a difficult position," she said.
The officers involved in this traffic stop forgot those lessons. It's not too late to reprimand them and enroll them in an ethics refresher course.
Failure to follow ethical principles and enforce them sends the message to other officers and the public that you can get away with breaking the law - at least until the local newspaper finds out. And that gives all law-enforcement officers a bad name.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060304/OPINION03/603040378/1110
I wonder, if a non badge wearing citizen, pulled over, 99 MPH in a 55, smells of alcohol, blood shot eyes, would the officer use discretion, and let him go?
Well said.