Cuff 'N Stuff
The Internal Newsletter of the Wise County Sheriff's
Department
02-11-00
|
Cuff 'N Stuff 02-11-00 |
|
Murphy's Law of Law Enforcement Court will be scheduled in the middle of your days off. Hot calls will only come over the air 10 minutes before the end of your shift. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Also the harder they punch, kick and choke. Coffee machines only break down on the graveyard shift. The oldest squad won’t be retired. It will be assigned to you. Coffee jitters will never bother you until firearm qualifications day. Bullet proof vests might be. Old squad cars never die; they just smell that way. Word processors only delete reports when they are nearly done. You receive a subpoena for a major felony case for the first day of your paid for, non-refundable vacation. You are ALWAYS DOWNWIND from pepper spray. To err is human, just do it in front of as few people as possible. Crime only occurs on days that end with a y. After all is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done.
More than Love Contributed by Animal Control In the course of a day, we hear many comments from the public. Some cut right to the heart. A common one is “I could never do your job. I love animals too much.” Well, we love them too. Animal Control Officers usually do It’s why we do this work. But it takes much more than love. Imagine a young dog. She is lost, frightened and confused. You hold her until she stops shaking. You spend days, weeks, holding her, playing with her, caring for her. You gain her trust and become friends. You come to know well her shining spirit. Her family never comes for her. You’ve given up trying to figure out why. Potential adopters pass her by for any number of reasons: she’s too shy, too big, to old, too young. No one wants her. (Well, you do, but you can’t take her. You already have all the animals you can manage. And you know that next week there will be others that need your help and tear at your heart. It never ends.) Because of this, the day comes, too soon, when you must hold her as she dies. Just as you held her, that first day, to stop her shaking. It takes much more than love. It takes great courage, compassion, dedication and selflessness. What keeps us going is going that for every animal that doesn’t get adopted there are easily another ten that we have managed to save. No, most people probably couldn’t do this work. But please, be kind. And try to understand--you’ll never know who we may have held and loved this day.
Legal Issues - Search and Seizure STOP OF VEHICLE TO CHECK ON WELFARE OF PASSENGER HELD VALID UNDER COMMUNITY CARE TAKING FUNCTION EXCEPTION. A deputy on patrol saw the defendant leaning out of an open window of a moving vehicle and vomiting. The deputy thought it odd for a passenger to be “hanging out of the window of a moving car while vomiting,” so he signaled for the car to stop. No criminal activity or traffic violation was seen by the deputy prior to the stop, but the officer was concerned that the defendant could be injured if the car had a blow-out or lost control. When the deputy approached the stopped car, he smelled alcohol and marijuana. The officer then saw a partially smoked marijuana cigarette on the console between the front seats. No other controlled substances were found in the car, and the defendant was charged with possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. The defendant moved to suppress the evidence, claiming that the stop was illegal, and that the marijuana was the fruit of the unlawful detention. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion, but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the marijuana should have been suppressed because it was the product of an illegal stop. The state appealed the ruling, arguing that the “community care taking” function authorizes an officer to make an investigatory stop where he or she has reasonable grounds to believe a passenger needs assistance or is in danger of being harmed. HOLDING: “In general, law enforcement personnel may not search or seize an individual absent a warrant based on probable cause.” Sometimes, however, a temporary investigative detention may be made where an officer reasonably believes that an individual has been engaged in criminal activity. Further, because of their mobility, automobiles are not treated like residences for purposes of search and seizure law. Warrantless searches of vehicles may be reasonable in circumstances that would require a warrant if they involved a fixed piece of property like a residence. In Cady v Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433 (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court approved the search of the trunk of an arrested officer’s car in order to find his service revolver. Evidence of a murder was found in the trunk, and was admitted against the officer. The Court in Cady based its decision on “concern for the safety of the general public who might be endangered if an intruder removed a revolver from the trunk of the vehicle.” It was important in Cady that the search of the trunk was not conducted to uncover evidence of a crime; it was only to find and secure the officer’s handgun so that it would not “fall into the hands of the wrong people.” The deputy in this case stopped the car in which the defendant was riding because he was concerned about the defendant’s health. He was not looking for evidence of criminal activity. It is part of the job of law enforcement officers to engage in “community care taking functions” which are not directly related to investigating crime and gathering evidence. Officers may stop and assist others when they reasonably believe someone needs help. The reasonableness of a stop to assist another is determined by: 1) the nature and level of distress exhibited by the individual; 2) the location of the individual; 3) whether or not the individual was alone and/or had access to assistance other than that offered by the officer; and 4) the extent to which the individual presented a danger to himself or others. As the defendant argued, a driver in distress presents a greater danger than a passenger, but the community care taking function is not limited to helping drivers. While activity that is part of an officer’s “community care taking function” may not require the usual probable cause and warrant, the exception is a narrow one. “Only in the most unusual circumstances will warrantless searches of private, fixed property, or stops of persons located thereon, be justified under the community care taking function, given the greater expectation of privacy inherent with respect to residence and other private real property.” COMMENT: This significant decision from the Court of Criminal Appeals recognizes for the first time in Texas the existence of a “community care taking function” exception to the probable cause and warrant requirements. Opponents of this exception fear that it will provide a handy excuse for warrantless stops and searches, all conducted without any reason to believe that a crime is being committed. Courts have it within their power, however, to narrowly construe the doctrine and closely scrutinize claims that police activity was for the purpose of protecting a defendant’s welfare. It remains to be seen how this doctrine will develop in Texas, but until its contours are defined more clearly b courts, officers should exercise the care taking function very carefully, bearing in mind that its purpose is not to provide another means of gathering criminal evidence Note: This opinion has not been released for publication, and is subject to being modified or withdrawn. Wright vs State, Tx. Ct. of Crim. App., No. 297-98 (12-15-99).
A Taxing Story A little boy who wanted $100 very badly to buy a bike, prayed and prayed for two weeks, but nothing happened. Then he decided to write a letter to God requesting $100. When the postal authorities received the letter to “God, USA,” they decided to send it to President Clinton. The president was so impressed, touched and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. Mr. Clinton thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5, and immediately sat down to write a thank you note to God which read, “Dear God, Thank you for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C., and as usual, those idiots deducted $95.00.”
(contributed by Captain Denney)
|
|
Crime Does Not Have To Be A Fact Of Life |
