Last Thursday, the City of Douglas released a statement regarding the Dec. 5 traffic stop in which city commissioner Olivia Pearson interfered. I have been thinking about that press release since we received it. And the more I think about it, the more puzzled I become.
First of all, no elected official, with the exception of the sheriff, should involve himself or herself with any police investigation. That isn’t the job of a city commissioner, county commissioner, school board member, or any other local politician.
I have made my thoughts known about this in several different discussions on the DouglasNow Facebook page. I will repeat them again: I feel as though Commissioner Pearson was out of line and she made a dangerous situation even more so by her actions. I would say that about any commissioner or other official who did something similar.
But I don’t want to talk about the traffic stop anymore.
What I would like to address is the press release the city issued last week. I found a statement made by police chief Gary Casteloes particularly perplexing. In the press release, Chief Casteloes was quoted as saying, “We are also addressing several training issues in regards to this incident as well, as the city plans to adopt some protocol that would be practical for elected officials.”
“Training issues.” “Adopt some protocol . . . for elected officials.” I would imagine that no training is needed. And neither is any protocol. But if there are some training issues that have surfaced, I can address them here. In fact, this would be the shortest training manual the city possesses. It should read as follows: “Do not interfere with traffic stops.”
When I watched the video, I saw three police officers engaging in an intense traffic stop, one made more dangerous by Mrs. Pearson’s involvement. The officers conducted themselves professionally, appropriately, safely, and lawfully. Nowhere in the city’s press release did I see anything commending these officers for a job well done.
We live in a country right now where the police are under constant attack. For the most part, that has not been an issue in our community. However, when incidents like this happen and officers who did nothing wrong find themselves under scrutiny, it sends a dangerous message. It discourages officers from doing their jobs, which in turn makes our community a less safe place to live.
Douglas and Coffee County are already dangerous enough. We’ve been on far too many “Most Dangerous” lists. Our jail has less than half the inmates it can hold. And yet our crime rate is among the highest in the state. Normal Coffee County politics already hinders our officers enough; we don’t need anything else getting in the way of them doing their jobs.
Why have we devoted so much time and space to this story? It’s not a personal vendetta against Commissioner Pearson. She has served the city ably during her time on the commission. Getting involved in police matters, however, is not good for the city. When officers don’t feel like they can do their jobs, when they don’t feel as though their superiors have their backs, morale sinks. And when that happens, we are all placed in a precarious situation.
This entire event is unfortunate. It’s also very preventable. I think it sends the wrong message to Commissioner Pearson, our law enforcement officers, and the citizens of this community. Our officers, who do a fine job throughout this community, do not need training in how to deal with elected officials. Our elected officials need to leave police work to the police. And our officers need to know that they are appreciated and recognized for the fine jobs they do.
And the city’s press release did not address either of those points.