Quick Multiple Choice Quiz: What is the penalty if you are caught driving “extremely drunk” in Raleigh, NC?
A. You are arrested and your car is impounded. B. Your license is suspended for at least one year. C. You pay a fine, your insurance rates go up, and you could do time in jail. D. The friendly police officer drives you to a hotel so you can sleep it off peacefully.
If it were you or me, the answer would be A and B and C. But according to an article in the Raleigh News & Observer, when an off-duty captain (captain!) with the N.C. Highway Patrol was stopped and found to be “extremely drunk,” he was given a ride to a local Best Western motel.
Awww. Wonder if he was tucked in, as well. They must have been BFFs, those two officers of the law. Or is it that everyone who is “on the job” is a BFF with everyone else in law enforcement? How many times has this happened in the past, but without recordings to back up the allegations?
Since this was discovered, Captain James Williams (the one caught driving drunk) had to surrender his badge, vehicle, and uniform while under investigation, which could take “a couple of weeks.”
What on earth could take “a couple weeks”… other than hoping that the public will forget about it? Why can’t this couldn’t be resolved in a day or two? There are telephone and radio traffic recordings, possibly breathalyzer tests, and a Best Western desk clerk to interview. Frankly, the act of driving the captain to the motel seems to be all the evidence needed–why else would that have happened?
At HensonFuerst, we fight hard against drunk drivers every day. We represent people whose lives have been shattered by people who drink and drive and crash. Now, we have to deal with buddy-buddy police officers who protect the drunk cop and put the public at risk. Being a police officer doesn’t convey special powers that allow someone to maneuver a 2000-lb weapon down our highways even while intoxicated.
We ask that there be swift resolution to this investigation, and that the details and outcome be made public. If the story is true, this type of preferential treatment is shameful, appalling, and chilling. We stand on the side of innocent people injured by drunk drivers. Where do the police stand?