http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060303/NEWS01/603030387/1001&lead=1



Officer drives 99 mph; avoids ticket, sobriety test
JENNIFER JACOBS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER


March 3, 2006



Instead of ticketing a Des Moines police officer who appeared to have been drinking and was clocked driving 99 mph on the freeway in a city-owned vehicle, West Des Moines police called one of the officer's supervisors to come and pick him up. No tests for alcohol consumption were given.

A spokesman for the West Des Moines police said the officer at the scene thought the consequences Officer Stewart Drake would face at work were more severe than any civil or criminal penalty authorities could dish out.

"If this was a brother officer thing, like, 'We can't get him in trouble,' they would have found him a way home without calling his boss," Lt. Mike Ficcola said. "This wasn't a thing that was ignored. I think our officer felt in talking to (Drake) that more would happen if he turned him over to Des Moines and let Des Moines deal with him. And Des Moines did deal with him."

As a result of the incident last fall, Drake, a drug investigator in the vice-and-narcotics unit, was suspended for two days for driving at excessive speeds in his take-home vehicle. He lost about $430 in pay. Des Moines police administrators immediately revoked his use of the car, used for on-call and undercover work, spokesman Sgt. Todd Dykstra said Thursday.

Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy believes a favor was extended between fellow officers.

"I think, yes. I think officers work together and they're mindful of the difficulties of the job, and I think there is an effort to mitigate situations that develop on occasion," McCarthy said Thursday. "It's regretful, and I very much dislike the perception that I think things like this can create, that there is preferential treatment. All I can tell you is, we don't condone it and I don't believe other police administrators do, as well."

In a news article last month, police ethics instructors criticized a Des Moines police officer, Sgt. Ken Brown, who filed a complaint against a West Des Moines officer for not giving him "professional courtesy" during a traffic stop in December. Brown, who was driving with dim headlights because his van had alternator trouble, was upset that Officer Bryan Grube ran a warrant search and other checks after Brown identified himself as a fellow police officer.

Neither department mentioned the Drake incident when The Des Moines Register inquired about the Brown complaint and the prevalence of professional courtesy. The newspaper received a tip about Drake after the article about Brown was published.

In the early-morning hours of Sept. 22, West Des Moines Police Officer Troy Shelley saw Drake traveling 44 mph over the speed limit on Interstate Highway 235 in his unmarked police car, spokesmen from both departments said. The speed limit there is 55 mph.

Shelley thought he smelled alcohol on Drake's breath and his eyes looked bloodshot, said Ficcola, the West Des Moines police spokesman. Drake identified himself as a Des Moines police officer.

Because Drake "had an attitude," and because Shelley thought he'd be more comfortable having a witness, he called dispatch to ask for assistance from another officer, Ficcola said.

Officer Rob Weir arrived at 12:39 a.m., about seven minutes after Shelley made the traffic stop, a dispatch report shows. The officers decided the appropriate way to handle the situation was to call Drake's supervisor, Ficcola said.

They notified Capt. David Lillard, who was the Des Moines watch commander at that hour. Lillard drove to the scene "and immediately took control of the officer," Ficcola said.

No field sobriety tests or breath tests were done. The dispatch report says an oral warning was issued.

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Drake, a senior police officer and the chief union steward for the Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit Association, said: "I don't think it's anybody's business other than mine and the police department's. I don't need my laundry aired out in the newspaper." He declined to comment further.

Des Moines' chief said it's wrong to assume Drake's blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit. "He admits to having a couple beers, but he said he was not impaired," McCarthy said. "Had he been intoxicated, I think they would have made the arrest."

No tickets were issued. The speeding fine would have been about $312.

If Drake, who has been an officer since 1990, had been ticketed for speeding, his license could have been suspended. Officers can continue to work as police even if they lose their driver's licenses for excessive speeding or drunken driving, Dykstra said. It's possible to get a work permit to drive.

The video camera from Shelley's squad car probably caught the 46-minute incident on tape, but the footage no longer exists, Ficcola said. The tapes are recycled every 30 days.

Ficcola said he asked Shelley about the incident Wednesday. "As for his own opinion as to how intoxicated (Drake) was, he didn't want to go that far because it was so long ago," Ficcola said.

West Des Moines Police Chief Jack O'Donnell said he wouldn't second-guess his officers, but added, "I am disappointed in the actions they took."

O'Donnell said: "I've stopped people and given people breaks, non-law enforcement as well as law enforcement. It's easy for me to offer hindsight, but we have professional officers daily making decisions, and I don't want to be a Monday-morning quarterback on those decisions."

Running a test for alcohol consumption is left to the officer's discretion, he said. Officers sometimes arrange rides home for people who have been drinking, without running tests.

Turning Drake over to his chain of command, rather than writing a citation, had "other serious consequences," O'Donnell said.

"I wouldn't want to be an officer in front of Chief McCarthy," O'Donnell said. "It's going to affect his career."

McCarthy said that as part of Drake's punishment, he required the officer to apologize to O'Donnell and his two officers for placing them in that situation and for his behavior. Drake did so in person.

havnt you heard? LEO's are above the law that we mere mortals must live by.

IBTPA!

Why is this news?
in other news, rain is wet
grass is green.
I mean hello!

Someone should copyright this epic piece of orwellian speak.  Why not in the best ARFcom tradition do both, cite him AND have him apologize to his boss.

"Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy believes a favor was extended between fellow officers.

"I think, yes. I think officers work together and they're mindful of the difficulties of the job, and I think there is an effort to mitigate situations that develop on occasion," McCarthy said Thursday. "It's regretful, and I very much dislike the perception that I think things like this can create, that there is preferential treatment. All I can tell you is, we don't condone it and I don't believe other police administrators do, as well."

Translation:  We're either better than you or different than you....take your choice...to your face they're different, behind your back, they're better..

disclaimer:  not ALL police believe this, probably not even the majority, just enough that it remains a problem.

Screw him.  To jail he goes.

BTW:  Where are all the Arcom speed demons and closet DWI drivers to insist that the guy did absolutely nothing wrong and that it's all about revenue?


BTW: starting police bashing threads with your second post.  Don't you guys even TRY and pretend they're not troll accounts anymore?

Quoted: Screw him.  To jail he goes.

No, I don't think so.

Jail is not a possibility, at least for this fellow.

Didn't you read the story?

BTW:  Where are all the Arcom speed demons and closet DWI drivers to insist that the guy did absolutely nothing wrong and that it's all about revenue?

I think you are nuts.

But then, I'm not giving a clinical diagnosis.

Eric The(ButMaybeOneShouldBeGiven)Hun

BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies.

Des Moines' chief said it's wrong to assume Drake's blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit. "He admits to having a couple beers, but he said he was not impaired," McCarthy said. "Had he been intoxicated, I think they would have made the arrest."



WOW,I wish I could get away with that

_________________

Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies.

+1

Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously.

Quoted: Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies. +1 Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously.

+eleventybillion

I see.  So next time if I'm drinking and driving 100mph on the road they'll just call my boss and tell him to really chew me out and make my work hell then huh?  


Right?



Bullshit.

perks of the job, good for him...

Quoted: I see.  So next time if I'm drinking and driving 100mph on the road they'll just call my boss and tell him to really chew me out and make my work hell then huh?   Right? Bullshit.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies. +1 Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously. +eleventybillion

We had an off duty PD guy that was excessive speeding down the freeway drunk.  He hit an off duty Deputy who was riding his motorcyle.  The deputy lost his leg.

DPS caught the fucker trying to change his blown tire at a carwash or some shit.

Quoted: We had an off duty PD guy that was excessive speeding down the freeway drunk.  He hit an off duty Deputy who was riding his motorcyle.  The deputy lost his leg. DPS caught the fucker trying to change his blown tire at a carwash or some shit.

Did they draw down on him at the car wash?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies. +1 Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously. +eleventybillion

what's so funny?

Quoted: Quoted: We had an off duty PD guy that was excessive speeding down the freeway drunk.  He hit an off duty Deputy who was riding his motorcyle.  The deputy lost his leg. DPS caught the fucker trying to change his blown tire at a carwash or some shit. Did they draw down on him at the car wash?

I think so.  IIRC, he wasn't cooperative.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: We had an off duty PD guy that was excessive speeding down the freeway drunk.  He hit an off duty Deputy who was riding his motorcyle.  The deputy lost his leg. DPS caught the fucker trying to change his blown tire at a carwash or some shit. Did they draw down on him at the car wash? I think so.  IIRC, he wasn't cooperative.

I knew it

Back in the mid1990s, an Indianapolis police officer (off duty) was caught driving his PD vehicle (they take them home here) over 100mph by the state cops.  He didn't stop and continued driving at high speed until he reached his precinct inside the city of Indianapolis.  When he stopped, all the state cops got out and drew down.  The cop's buddies rushed out of the station and drew down on the state cops.  What a fucking mess.

Also, it was drunk city cops how cost Mayor Goldsmith the governorship.
He sponsored a bunch of them at the local AAA baseball stadium, and they got drunk and started beating up citizens downtown.

"Professional courtesy"

Quoted: Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies. +1 Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously.

+2

Why are any of you guys even bothering to get upset? This stuff goes on all the time, and it will never stop.

The important thing here is that he got to go home to his family safely that night. Besides, nothing should be said until a full and costly investigation is completely that will come to the same conclusion this officer's police buddies came to by letting him go in the first place.  

Quoted: _________________

+1

Officer's discretion.

Quoted: "Professional courtesy"

You mean why snakes don't bite attorneys?  

Quoted: Quoted: "Professional courtesy" You mean why snakes don't bite attorneys?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: BECAUSE he is an officer he should be held to a HIGHER standard and should have had standard criminal AND job related penatlies. +1 Law enforcement should be subject to double the penalty for any crime. They are given an exalted status and abuse of it should be taken VERY seriously. +eleventybillion what's so funny?

How would he have been in more trouble by not being arrested.

WHAT IN THE BLUE FUCK!!??

Do they honestly expect us to believe that crap???

Quoted: Why are any of you guys even bothering to get upset? This stuff goes on all the time, and it will never stop. The important thing here is that he got to go home to his family safely that night. Besides, nothing should be said until a full and costly investigation is completely that will come to the same conclusion this officer's police buddies came to by letting him go in the first place.

Aaaahhh...

pick one of the following:

We don't know their side of the story..........


 Better safe than sorry.............


 At least the officers went home safely that night............


 If you didn't have anything to hide..............

If that piece of shit was in the .mil, he would find his ass out on the curb AND he would be facing the wrath of the civilian court system if it was commited off base...


Fucker should have been charged with DUI and fired on the spot...no excuses

Why is this news? I give ten times the amount of breaks to "civilians" than I do other LEO's.  Oh, I forgot, it goes inline with the ARFCOM tradition of painting pictures with the broadest brush available.

Quoted: Why is this news? I give ten times the amount of breaks to "civilians" than I do other LEO's.  Oh, I forgot, it goes inline with the ARFCOM tradition of painting pictures with the broadest brush available.

Reckon how many speeding tickets you've given out to other LEOs?

How many DWIs (DUIs)?

I trust your word.

Eric The(Interested)Hun

Quoted: Screw him.  To jail he goes. BTW:  Where are all the Arcom speed demons and closet DWI drivers to insist that the guy did absolutely nothing wrong and that it's all about revenue?

That's all fine and good, except that he did NOT go to jail and nobody collected any revenue off of him. What he got was an extra two days off to sleep off his hangover.