Comments on: Police aren’t substitute for personal responsibility

By: QuinnP

QuinnP — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:25:43 +0000

grief is a strange thing. When my first husband took his own life, I blamedd everybody except him. Myself, the boss who fired him from his job, the fundie who ridiculed him for not being a Christian, & almost 10 years later tho it still hurts, I know that the only one responsible for Leonard’s death was Leonard. Mr. Swann that was a great letter, by the way. One day I hope the family of this young woman will realize that it was not the police’s job.

By: OPIE75

OPIE75 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:22:58 +0000

I never thought this was my cup of tea but after reading the article in today’s paper, I absolutely agree. I have an 18 year old son. Where do we draw the line for personal responsibility? Are we becoming so very lazy that we lack the ambition to make ourselves personally accountable? We will fight to the death when government tries to force us into a decision, but when it comes to an area or an act where we fall short due to our own disregard for consequences, we want anyone but ourselves to take the blame. What a sad society we have become. What happened to common sense?

By: RLaitres

RLaitres — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:09:15 +0000

“..you definately don’t understand the issue here.”

The issue (eliminating the emotionalism) is very simple. The one responsible is the driver, not the law enforcement officer. Perhaps some should pay less attention to emotionalism and “feelings” just long enough to look at hard facts, and not get drawn off into hypothetical scenarios. And, the reality is that in whatever case, it is the driver that is at fault, not the law enforcement officer whatever he/she may have/have not done.

By: RLaitres

RLaitres — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:00:45 +0000

mountainwarrior: “Try looking at it another way - suppose, god forbid, that the young woman, after being stopped and released by law enforcement, hit and killed someone related to you.”

Let us not get into the “What if” and “feeling” category shall we? It reminds me of the garbage frequently asked of interviewees on television or radio. Some family has suffered a tragedy and the interviewer cannot come up with anything better than the inane “How do you feel?” What does the interviewer expect to hear: “I feel great!”?

By: Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:51:14 +0000

And one other thing…While it’s a tragic loss of a young life, riddle me this-

Would everyone be squealing so hard about that ‘young woman’ if she hadn’t been a pretty young girl? What is she had been a 50ish alcholic male? Would it be so heart-rendingly tragic, or would people like you be saying, “That’s what you get for drinking and driving…I’m surprised he didn’t kill someone”?

By: Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:43:19 +0000

Okay, mountainwarrior, let’s try it on your level -

Who drank? Who drove? Who kept driving AFTER being stopped and let go? Was anything Samantha’s fault?

By: mountainwarrior

mountainwarrior — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:37:27 +0000

You folks can’t be that dense can you? Try looking at it another way - suppose, god forbid, that the young woman, after being stopped and released by law enforcement, hit and killed someone related to you. Then how how you view the officer and his responsibility in the matter? I can’t wait for your considered reply to that question!

By: Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:24:35 +0000

mountainwarrior -

How much responsibility did Samantha Loy bear in her own tragic demise? Once she became voluntarily intoxicated, and chose to get behind the wheel, did all of her responsibility end?
Officer Peck probably made a mistake. Probably. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But I do know that he will live with that mistake the rest of his life. To me, that’s a fair punishment for what very well could have been a simple mistake. But Samantha made plenty of mistakes, too.
She drank. She drove. She was pulled over. She was let go.
At ANY point during that night, she could have called someone for a ride.
She made a conscious decision to do what she did. While it’s sad that she died, we’re all lucky we weren’t on the same road that night.
It’s terrible, tragic, and sad.
But let’s lay the blame where it belongs, and stop looking for someone to blame to make us all feel better.

By: RLaitres

RLaitres — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:19:38 +0000

Law enforcement’s purpose is to enforce laws, not to be the law or to “babysit” anyone. Any death is unfortunate but, the ultimate responsibility for this death is with the individual him/herself. We all make mistakes in our lives, and particularly when young. But, that is our mistake, not that of others. It is about time that everyone begin accepting responsibility for their own errors instead of constantly attempting to “shift the blame” onto the shoulders of others. That, for some, may involve considerable growing up, no matter what the age.

By: mountainwarrior

mountainwarrior — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:55:12 +0000

You either are unaware of the details or choose to ignore them. The officer followed this young woman then stopped and interviewed her. Ten minutes later she was dead with a 1.9 BAC. Further don’t confuse final responsibility with total responsibility.

You sir, fail to accept the expected accountability of law enforcement in the execution of their duties. Your statement regarding the lack of video or voice recording evidence is interesting, how would you know whether such exists?