A man is alive because I acted, so why am I in trouble?

[Pepperbelly]

-snip-

I was also amazed that the police subsequently arrested me and took me to jail. I did take a few moments to catch my breath on the other side of the river before I had to swim again, this time over to the officers, but I maintain that I complied with their request to exit the river, immediately after the higher priority of saving that man's life.

Amazing.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/07/8Newman_edit.html

[AX10]

1. It's a shame. This man's a hero!

God Bless Him.

[XanaDUer]

2. Also voted for greatest,

this country is getting nuttier by the day, and
Joe's Crab Shack has sucky food.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Sounds like some cops with authoritarian hangups

"I don't care why ya done it. Ya ain't followin' our orders, man, so you're under arrest."

They're probably related to the cop who stopped me for going 70 mph just weeks after I got my driver's license. The fact is, I couldn't possibly have been going 70, because I was still unsure of myself and clung to that 55 mph speed limit. But when I protested, the cop threatened to have me arrested for "disrespecting an officer."

[AX10]

4. are you serious?

[FreedomAngel82]

5. Oh good grief

This is the reason why a lot of people don't like cops. There are still good cops out there but this sounds like abuse of power. The man told why he was in the river and was saving a man's life. Instead of being proclaimed a hero by the town he's in jail. Yep, that's the reward ya get for doing a good deed now days I guess.

[AX10]

7. Do you believe that the majority of police are good?

[Junkdrawer]

9. "Respect my authoritay"...

What did Dostoevsky say about petty bureaucrats ...

[Pepperbelly]

10. or from a Castanadian p.o.v. "petty tyrants" nt

[karlrschneider]

13. I know very well how those things happen...I worked my way thru college

as a cop in Tulsa and saw hundreds...or possibly thousands of incidents where the cops went ballistic with people just because they had the "authority" to do it. I've considered writing a book about it for years, if I weren't so busy (lazy) I'd do it. In several instances since then, knowing what I knew has 'saved' me from serious hassles in encounters with police...they might not be very bright but they can grasp the facts as explained by someone who's been there and done that.

[AX10]

18. As a former officer, how do you view police officers?

Could you say whether most are good/not good/middle/other/poorly trained/unqualified....

Also, what do you think about the rampant usage of taser guns?

"they might not be very bright but they can grasp the facts as explained by someone who's been there and done that."

[meow2u3]

17. That's what happens when you give a criminal a badge and a gun

instead of a pair of matching bracelets and a room with a view

[TheFarseer]

6. Maybe the guy he saved can help him out

They're just mad he saved the guy and they were busy screwing around with procedure while a man was drowning.

[Journeyman]

8. Teach him to behave as a Christian should in BushCo America. . .

n/t

[democracyindanger]

11. Also, a man almost died because he acted.

Some background: The city wanted to fence off that particular stretch of water and post no swimming signs, because it felt that it was dangerous water. Some other people almost drowned there some time back. This guy led a fight to take down the fences.

Payback? Maybe. Probably. But consider that nobody would've been in danger of drowning in the first place if not for this guy's original actions...

[Pepperbelly]

12. his political actions caused the problem?

I'm going to have to think that one over. Rivers should not be fenced. That's crazy talk.

[democracyindanger]

14. It's not like it's open river in the middle of the country

It's a section that flows past a restaurant, a developed area. If you search LBN there was a news story that had a few details about the history.

I'm not saying the guy didn't do good in saving the swimmer's life. He did. But if I created--or perpetuated--conditions that eventually almost killed somebody, even if I was the one to save them, I wouldn't write a newspaper op-ed pointing to my heroism, especially one that doesn't tell the entire story.

[Pepperbelly]

15. I've never seen a river fenced anywhere...

Rivers are pretty whatever when they get to flood stage and fences just don't quite work. I would have opposed it as well. Further, I think the point wasn't so much that he was a hero but that the police had, in his view, acted inappropriately. I tend to agree with him on that as well.

Rivers are dangerous. Everyone knows that. People drown in them sometimes.

[1monster]

16. A judge can take into consideration the view of the community in cases

like this.

Write a letter to the Judge who will hear this case outlining your outrage that someone who risked his life to save another is being charged with disobeying an officer, when, in fact, there were no other rescuers in the water and he had located the man.

Dave Newman did his civic duty. I don't see how he kept the rescue workers from doing theirs if they were not yet in the water...