 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WND News
Cowboy Byte
|
Trooper fired for offering Florida lawmaker break on speeding ticket
By Justin Hyde | Motoramic
In a rarity among modern American jurisprudence, a state highway trooper has lost his job over a traffic ticket he didn't write — and now his fight has sparked a wider dispute over who gets preferential treatment for enforcing the law on the road. Does anyone need to guess that this happened in Florida?
In a rarity among modern American jurisprudence, a state highway trooper has lost his job over a traffic ticket he didn't write — and now his fight has sparked a wider dispute over who gets preferential treatment for enforcing the law on the road. Does anyone need to guess that this happened in Florida?
The tale starts last November, when Florida Highway Patrol trooper
Charles Swindle stopped state Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, for
doing 87 mph in a 70 mph zone. McBurney was driving a Toyota with a
license plate identifying him as a state lawmaker; after checking with
his sergeant, Swindle told McBurney "I'm cutting you a break" and cited him only for lacking proof of insurance — a $10 ticket rather than a $280 one that McBurney could have faced.
According to Florida state investigators, Swindle did the same for another driver he pulled over at the same time, telling his dispatcher “I’m going to write (McBurney) a warning and be nice; I’m going to stroke him ’cause I didn’t see his insurance card."
But the episode bothered McBurney (who denied going 87 mph) so much that he wrote to Swindle's superiors on legislature letterhead, complaining that Swindle was favoring state officials. "If those who enforce our laws fail to meet the highest ethical standards, there is erosion of that confidence," McBurney wrote. "I am concerned that as Trooper Swindle acted in such fashion to me, that he would do so to any law-abiding citizen of our state."
That letter launched an internal investigation, and two weeks ago, Swindle was fired for "conduct unbecoming a public employee." And now Swindle and his attorney have appealed his dismissal, contending the Florida Highway Patrol has an unwritten policy of letting state lawmakers off easy at traffic stops to avoid trouble come budget-writing time. The FHP denies that's the case, and has speeding tickets written to several lawmakers over the past few years to show it.
All of this falls into that rubric so often heard in these situations of "just doing my job." Swindle clearly believed he was supposed to treat some drivers differently than others, a discretion granted most traffic enforcers who aren't robotic cameras. McBurney sees part of his job to fight the appearance of corruption, even if it leads to an officer's firing. And Florida officials think they have no choice but to deny the existence of a caste system on public roads that favor some drivers over others, despite providing license plates for lawmakers and others that double as donations to Police Activity League charities. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, it's hard to get people to understand something when their salary depends on not understanding it.
According to Florida state investigators, Swindle did the same for another driver he pulled over at the same time, telling his dispatcher “I’m going to write (McBurney) a warning and be nice; I’m going to stroke him ’cause I didn’t see his insurance card."
But the episode bothered McBurney (who denied going 87 mph) so much that he wrote to Swindle's superiors on legislature letterhead, complaining that Swindle was favoring state officials. "If those who enforce our laws fail to meet the highest ethical standards, there is erosion of that confidence," McBurney wrote. "I am concerned that as Trooper Swindle acted in such fashion to me, that he would do so to any law-abiding citizen of our state."
That letter launched an internal investigation, and two weeks ago, Swindle was fired for "conduct unbecoming a public employee." And now Swindle and his attorney have appealed his dismissal, contending the Florida Highway Patrol has an unwritten policy of letting state lawmakers off easy at traffic stops to avoid trouble come budget-writing time. The FHP denies that's the case, and has speeding tickets written to several lawmakers over the past few years to show it.
All of this falls into that rubric so often heard in these situations of "just doing my job." Swindle clearly believed he was supposed to treat some drivers differently than others, a discretion granted most traffic enforcers who aren't robotic cameras. McBurney sees part of his job to fight the appearance of corruption, even if it leads to an officer's firing. And Florida officials think they have no choice but to deny the existence of a caste system on public roads that favor some drivers over others, despite providing license plates for lawmakers and others that double as donations to Police Activity League charities. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, it's hard to get people to understand something when their salary depends on not understanding it.
Illustration based on Florida Highway Patrol photo via Facebook
Department of Homeland Security Can Seize Gold, Silver, Guns in Safety Deposit Boxes
Investment Watch
Just found this… very interesting. I am trying to verify the post from a govt source.
http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52464-do-not-use-safety-deposit-boxes/
According to in-house memos now circulating, the DHS has issued orders to banks across America which announce to them that “under the Patriot Act” the DHS has the absolute right to seize, without any warrant whatsoever, any and all customer bank accounts, to make “periodic and unannounced” visits to any bank to open and inspect the contents of “selected safe deposit boxes.”
Further, the DHS “shall, at the discretion of the agent supervising the search, remove, photograph or seize as evidence” any of the following items “bar gold, gold coins, firearms of any kind unless manufactured prior to 1878, documents such as passports or foreign bank account records, pornography or any material that, in the opinion of the agent, shall be deemed of to be of a contraband nature.”
DHS memos also state that banks are informed that any bank employee, on any level, that releases “improper” “classified DHS Security information” to any member of the public, to include the customers whose boxes have been clandestinely opened and inspected and “any other party, to include members of the media” and further “that the posting of any such information on the internet will be grounds for the immediate termination of the said employee or employees and their prosecution under the Patriot Act.” Safety deposit box holders and depositors are not given advanced notice when failed banks shut their doors.
If people have their emergency money
in a safe deposit box or an account in a bank that closes, they will
not be allowed into the bank to get it out. They can knock on the door
and beg to get in but the sheriff’s department or whoever is handling
the closure will simply say “no” because they are just following orders.
…
http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52464-do-not-use-safety-deposit-boxes/
BANK OF AMERICA & COMPASS BANK MANAGERS WERE TOLD HOMELAND SECURITY WILL CONFISCATE SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES
While all the other points I mentioned in a previous post are fairly well documented and discussed elsewhere on the Internet, the bank information I reported is not. This information is from my own experience and research. I discovered the disturbing news quite by accident – and by virtue of its importance, I decided to post my findings here and on a few other forums.
http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10012
The truth about Safe Deposit Boxes
Memo
states DHS to make “periodic and unannounced” visits to banks and
inspect contents of “selected safe deposit boxes.” Photo: EG Focus.
http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52464-do-not-use-safety-deposit-boxes/
According to in-house memos now circulating, the DHS has issued orders to banks across America which announce to them that “under the Patriot Act” the DHS has the absolute right to seize, without any warrant whatsoever, any and all customer bank accounts, to make “periodic and unannounced” visits to any bank to open and inspect the contents of “selected safe deposit boxes.”
Further, the DHS “shall, at the discretion of the agent supervising the search, remove, photograph or seize as evidence” any of the following items “bar gold, gold coins, firearms of any kind unless manufactured prior to 1878, documents such as passports or foreign bank account records, pornography or any material that, in the opinion of the agent, shall be deemed of to be of a contraband nature.”
DHS memos also state that banks are informed that any bank employee, on any level, that releases “improper” “classified DHS Security information” to any member of the public, to include the customers whose boxes have been clandestinely opened and inspected and “any other party, to include members of the media” and further “that the posting of any such information on the internet will be grounds for the immediate termination of the said employee or employees and their prosecution under the Patriot Act.” Safety deposit box holders and depositors are not given advanced notice when failed banks shut their doors.
…
http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52464-do-not-use-safety-deposit-boxes/
BANK OF AMERICA & COMPASS BANK MANAGERS WERE TOLD HOMELAND SECURITY WILL CONFISCATE SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES
While all the other points I mentioned in a previous post are fairly well documented and discussed elsewhere on the Internet, the bank information I reported is not. This information is from my own experience and research. I discovered the disturbing news quite by accident – and by virtue of its importance, I decided to post my findings here and on a few other forums.
http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10012
The truth about Safe Deposit Boxes
http://www.infowars.com/department-of-homeland-security-can-seize-gold-silver-guns-in-safety-deposit-boxes/
Freedom Outpost
|
||||||||
TODAY'S ARTICLES
|
| ||||||
Patriot Update
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
TOP STORIES
|
| ||||||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)