What ever happened with the State Police issue?

Open Discussion - for our Readers, Islanders, and Web Site Visitors alike. Discussion regarding any and all aspects of Beaver Island are welcome here. Also a place for general Beaver Island conversation and discussion.

Moderator: Gillespie

medic5740
Posts: 1108
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:28 am
Location: Beaver Island

Wow!

Post by medic5740 »

I had no idea that this would generate as much interest. The last post makes perfect sense, and I agree with the concept completely.

I do not think, in my belief system, that a police officer standing outside a bar constitutes a violation of a person's rights, but I do agree that standing inside a bar, unless invited by the owner or other legal requirement, such a complaint of a fight, is inappropriate. I also think that sitting just outside the parish hall to await the end of a party is excessive as well if the purpose of is to intimidate attendees.

So I guess that my true motives for writing on this forum were to suggest that the police presence is indeed needed during the busiest weekend on the Island whether Homecoming or Fourth of July. I certainly cannot defend intimidation, but I can suggest that some happy medium could be met in this discussion short of elimination of law enforcement and ignoring of the laws of the State.

Would swerving from one side of the road to another constitute a questionable behavior if the motive was unknown? Would weaving from side to side of the road be questionable to anyone if the reason was unknown? There are different points of view and different perspectives for each of the situations discussed on this forum. All I am asking is for everyone to look at the other perspectives.

I would also like people to look at the people on the other side of this. Law enforcement on BI during this weekend can't be fun from the officer's perspective either. An example that I observed was a young man who was driving a motor scooter around town without a muffler and without a helmet. The officer received several irate phone calls about this loud vehicle. The officer ended up locating the driver of the vehicle at Daddy Franks. Before this situation was resolved, the officer was treated to very negative comments from the young people hanging out at Daddy Franks, as well as the driver's parents' belligerent comments heard as far away as the playground. The parents were very upset that the officer had suggested that their son had done something wrong, even though the son had caused the complaints. No ticket was issued. The outcome was very fair. The motorscooter was to be taken home and parked until fixed, and the rider was to wear a helmet.

How about some middle ground on the issue of responsible drinking behavior and drinking and driving that is similarly reasonable.

Joe
RBC
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:55 am

MSP

Post by RBC »

Thanks to John for looking past the understandable emotions surrounding this issue to address the underlying legal/constitutional questions involved.

These paragraphs in particular stand out:
What is happening on Beaver Island, and what has been happening on Beaver Island since the state police first arrived, is that the MSP are endeavoring to get around their state's own Supreme Court ruling in MSP vs. Sitz by using road stops for the express purpose of conducting random sobriety checks.

Sheri Timsak's experience is a perfect example of what the Michigan State Supreme Court is trying to protect citizens against. Theoretically, Sheri could have asked the officer's partner to arrest the officer who stopped her for violation of both state and federal law.
Post Reply