On Tuesday, September 2, Big Thicket National Preserve rangers Josh Clemons and Johnny Stafford were in a day use area conducting an assessment of possible hurricane damage (remember Hurricane Gustav?) when they came upon five men and a women doing a drug transaction. One of the men tried to resist arrest, but abruptly quit struggling with Clemmons when he got a look at the Taser that Stafford was holding.
Ranger Stafford had removed the Taser’s cartridge, which powers the two dart-like electrodes that deliver the powerful electroshock for which the Taser is famous. He only displayed the spark, which was quite enough to convince the perp that it just wasn’t his day. He quit struggling and submitted to handcuffing.
While frisking the group the rangers found a number of bags of marijuana and Vicodin pills. Charges are pending for possession, distribution, and resisting arrest.
Comments
Frank--
I tend to agree with you that our "war on drugs" is not winnable and, therefore, the country needs to devise a different strategy. But, until that new strategy is in place, law enforcement people like the rangers involved here can't just walk away from an incident. The topic, however, is so toxic that no politician will ever be the first to propose a new approach. It will have to come from us, the voters.
Rick Smith
Beamis, I agree with the general thrust of your argument, but I take issue with two specifics. First, Johnny Walker Red is cheap and popular (the world's best selling whiskey), but you really should expand your horizons and develop your sophisticated side. Try a couple of bottles of JW Black Label (but not on the same day). Secondly, dealing in illicit drugs is not a victimless crime. That said, I believe that the war on drugs has been lost, and I share your disgust with the continuing massive waste of law enforcement resources. BTW, I have three close relatives in law enforcement, including both of my brothers.
I've got the answer to all the park service's woes, but I bet you won't like it........
Legalize pot. Have the government not only subsidize the growers like they do the tobacco industry, put use the same taxation formula for pot products. The immediate impact would be measured in the BILLIONS of dollars annually. Any and all revenues generated get funneled directly to the NPS, including "user fees" collected from pot growers sponsorship of NASCAR, MLB, NFL and especially the NBA. Advertise it everywhere and the proceeds from billboard, print and internet ads also go to bail out the parks. Within 24 months, all the maintenance backlog is eliminated, and the windfall of excess funds can be utilized to purchase additional lands, hire and retain a higher quality of employee, market the product, whatever floats your boat. As an added bonus, you simultaneously put the screws to the cartels in Mexico, and somewhat the same in Columbia. It serves to free up jail space, court backlogs, and the current waste of time spend by law enforcement across the nation, saving additional countless millions of dollars and man hours, thereby making each more efficient in their daily operations.
Practical, yes. Doable? Again, yes. Chances of it actually happening in our lifetimes? ZERO.
I agree that it is most assuredly not a victimless crime. The substance abUSERS are not the only ones that hit rock bottom. Before that happens, families are ravaged. Abusers get high, get into debt (max out [cash advances, too] credit cards off the charts), empty bank accounts, come close to or actually lose jobs, lie, steal & whatever it takes. Then they have black outs & don't remember anything. Although rehab is a good thing, it doesn't help all habitual substance abusers. If not for the grace of God, families would be torn apart irrepairably. They come to the point of total brokenness. Only by a miracle through Jesus, the substance abuser's delivered from drugs, forgiven & redeemed:-D And the family restored!!! However, the consequences are still there. Day by day with the help of God, one doesn't simply exist but lives a full life. "The thief comes to steal, kill & destroy but Jesus came to give us a full life." John 10:10 That is reality...practical, doable & happening in our lifetime ( & eternity). Trust me, there couldn't be a better high than the abundant life;-) Sincerely,
The only way to assure that all people who commit crimes are treated equally during their encounters with law enforcement is for law enforcement officers to treat all of them as prescribed by policy - in this case arrest, in other cases citation. A policy that "you can throw away the drugs/paraphernalia instead of writing a cite if you feel like it" would tend to lead to officers picking and choosing how the people they encounter are treated. That could lead, even unconsciously, to discrimination. Thus, whether or not you like drug laws, the actions on the part of these officers was correct.
And I'm glad to hear that Big Thick has tasers now. It's a place that needs them.
These 5 male and 1 female "perps" (buncha local kids?) could have been dangling their bodies over a precipice, risking injury & death ... and putting others at risk and costing the public money attempting to rescue them ... and that would have been 'approved recreation'.
So they're gonna share a bag of weed, and the Rangers abandon their storm-damage assessement duties and go for a little Dirty Harry side-excitement? Got it.
Actually, the 2 Rangers obviously need a refresher course in basic law enforcement. There were 6 suspects, one Ranger is grappling with a 'man', and the other Ranger has only a disabled Taser to back him up. Not very professional ... but all too typical of Park 'law enforcement'.
Good cops read the situation better than these guys did ... and make a call to HQ when they (obviously) aren't ready to deal with it.
This incident reads more like Barney Fife gettin' the low-down on Mayberry.
Gee, Ted, you must have been on the scene to be able judge the actions of the 5 individuals and the 2 rangers. And, you even have a solution for the rangers involved--a refresher course. Come on, since you weren't there, let's leave the prescriptions for more training and the snide remarks out of NPT.
Rick Smith
Rick Smith,
Perhaps you overestimate the difficulty of assessing a law enforcement context.
There are easily enough facts in view in this case, to see that the interdiction was probably unprofessional to the point of being "amateurish".
The original post itself sets the snide & facetious tone, Rick (read it again) ... and I see you are happy enough to try your own hand. Nothing says that NPT has to be totally stuffed & humorless at all times.
This looks like a 'human interest' piece to me ... and I think it does NPT good.