Warden Tales: Spotlighters, Wet Pants and Body Cameras

Throughout my wildlife career I had several concerned citizens who were truly force multipliers.  They were eyes and ears in their communities who would pass along information that made my job easier.  Some were simply busy-bodies who enjoyed telling all they knew about their neighbors.  Others were jealous of those who encroached on their hunting or fishing spots.  An informant's motivations were about as varied as the sources.

The sometimes difficult part of dealing with informants was gauging what information was solid, what was embellished, and what was speculation.  Most people want to help so they have a tendency to fill missing information with speculation.  But, a few gave accurate details and would acknowledge when they didn't know something. 

wikipedia.org

I had a guy in eastern Rutherford County who was the perfect informant.  He didn't care what happened outside his community – that was someone elses’ concern.  There were some illegal activities that didn’t especially bother him.  But he despised spotlighters along his road, hunting “his” deer, who woke him up at night.  Anytime he called, I went running his way.

He called one fall night around midnight and told me that he had heard a shot in the alfalfa field just down the road from his house.  He had looked out his window to see the car drive past his house and then moments later it returned, passing by the field.  He said he would keep a lookout until I arrived and I quickly threw on my uniform.

It took about 20 minutes to get to his house and he met me in the drive behind his house.  He told me the car had driven through again about five minutes earlier but didn’t stop.  As we were talking, the car passed again heading toward the field.  I pulled out to the end of the drive in time to see them shine the field with a spotlight and then pull crossways so that the headlights shined into the field.  I drove toward them quickly, flipped on the bluelight, and pulled the front of my truck near the side of the passenger’s door.

The driver jumped out and yelled across the roof, “I have to piss.”  The passenger looked at me with a blank expression and slowly leaned forward to reach under the seat.  I drew my pistol and ordered the driver to place his hands on top of the car and for the passenger not to move.  The driver once again, with more urgency (probably induced by having a pistol pointed his way) yelled, “I really need to piss.”  I emphasized more strongly for him not to move.  The passenger continued to stare at me as his hands neared the floorboard.

It was a moment where everything became extremely clear and all my senses were accentuated.  I told the passenger that unless he stopped, his hands came up very slowly and he placed them on the dash of the car, I was going to shoot him.  I felt the slack go out of the trigger on my pistol as I pulled the trigger rearward. The driver’s voice, still saying something about pissing, seemed distant and muffled.  The passenger raised up (he still hadn’t spoken a word) and placed his hands on the dash.  I got both out of the car and placed them in handcuffs.  The driver’s pants were soaked.

I secured them and was eager to see what the passenger was so intent on getting his hands on.  I envisioned a pistol or drugs.  It turns out there was nothing under the seat - not as much as a gum wrapper.  I asked him what was he thinking and he dully replied, “I dunno.” 

I thought about that story this week after reading this article from PoliceOne about President Obama’s thoughts on the use of body cameras by law enforcement officers.  The article opens with the statement,

“Requiring police officers to wear body cameras is one potential solution for bridging deep mistrust between law enforcement and the public, the White House said, weighing in on a national debate sparked by the shooting of an unarmed black man last month in Ferguson, Missouri.”

www.digitalallyinc.com

I thought about how close I came to shooting an unarmed teenager and how difficult it would have been to articulate to a non-law enforcement audience why I shot him.  His buddy was yelling, I was yelling – maybe he was confused.  I was in an unmarked vehicle with a dashmounted light, pistol drawn, trying to hide (take cover) behind an open truck door on an isolated country road after midnight – maybe he was scared that I was going to rob them.  The maybe list is long.  A body camera would have shown what I saw and recorded what was said.  Hopefully, it would have given clarity to a chaotic situation.

But what about the guy who pissed in his pants?  He was young and dumb – a situation most of us have passed through.  How long should that recording of his young and dumb moment be stored?  Who should have access to it?  Should he be concerned for the rest of his life that that video may surface at an embarrassing moment?  And would I have possibly shown the video to my informant and coworkers just for laughs and giggles?  Another long list of questions.

Body cameras are a great idea.  But as with any new technology, current policy and procedures can’t adequately address all concerns.  Let the cameras roll but let’s be sure we do it right.