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February 2008
More on Duluth police shooting controversy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“I would like Bill Allen to weigh in on this debate. He wrote the article that started this, and I would like to hear from him.” So says Concerned Citizen, one commenter of many to my last blog.
My last blog concerned the incident between City of Duluth police officer Jay Dailey and Fulton County police officer Paul Phillips. I said that Officer Dailey is innocent until proven guilty. He has only been charged, not tried and convicted. In no way should Mr. Dailey’s actions be attributed to the city of Duluth Police Department. I said that there is more going on than what meets the eye, and like many of you, I will talk about this among my friends and neighbors. It is human nature.
And talk you did. Almost 200 comments from when last I checked. Some I felt were thoughtful comments. Some I felt were unnecessarily hostile. Mostly, I was pleased to see the community take part in such a vigorous discussion. Here, then, are some of my thoughts.
My sympathies go to Officer Phillips of the Fulton County Police Department for being a standup guy and for doing his duty. He reminds us of how honorable and noble police officers can be. I, for one, am grateful for your service, sir.
My sympathies also extend to the family of Officer Dailey. They find themselves in the middle of a hailstorm not of their creation. I may be upset with Officer Dailey, but I cannot extend that anger to his family. They need to heal as well as the other victims in this horrid incident.
Former Cop, another commenter, said, “… the good cop puts himself in harms way to stop this crime and save the lives of numerous people.” He also said, “traffic tickets are one of the main reasons citizens [don’t] like the police.” I agree with him on both counts.
Nobody likes to get a ticket. It makes citizens nervous when police in a smaller town toe a fine line between strict law enforcement and abuse of power. Towns in Georgia like Ludowici and Lake City are prime examples of using their police force for garnering revenue more so than protecting the public. Research those towns to get some background information.
What is that fine line? As citizens, we can and must be vigilant in asking that question. From a journalist standpoint, it would be unethical to sling accusations with no proof of any wrongdoing. We must also walk a fine line between tough reporting and abuse of power. There are numerous examples of when journalists have crossed that fine line.
Sometimes, everybody gets it right. Sometimes, it becomes an ugly, avoidable mess. If, as commenter Jais says, there are people in authority who are looking into some allegations regarding the police department, then let them do their job. And if, as he says, there are council members and citizens doing their duty to research any improprieties, I thank them for their vigilance.
“Corruption” is not a word to be used casually. Good people get hurt when that net gets cast too broadly. So, too, do some recipients of traffic violations. The best comment I received was this: If you do not like the way things are, change them. Get involved, talk to your leaders. But if you put nothing in, you get nothing out.
Great discussion. Thank you all for your input
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Don’t blame Duluth police for actions of one
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A comment on my recent blog said: “Hey man, screw the Braves, what about these rogue Duluth police officers? I’ve been following the Jay Dailey story quite closely, and it only gets more bizarre. Can we get a blog about corrupt cops in this town?”
Here’s your blog. But it’s probably not what you were expecting.
To recap: A Duluth police officer, Jay Dailey, 42, was jailed Saturday after being treated for a gunshot wound. He is said to have been shot during a confrontation with Fulton County police officer Paul Phillips, who also was injured. Dailey faces four counts of felony aggravated assault.
Gwinnett Police have not said much about what happened, but witness statements to the media paint this picture: Phillips was flagged down to help a distressed woman on Level Creek Road in Sugar Hill. He was off duty but in uniform and driving a marked patrol car. After Phillips stopped to help, Dailey began shooting, hitting Phillips once. Phillips returned fire.
There are a lot of details yet to come as this story develops. Here’s what I think: ¥ Officer Dailey is innocent until proven guilty. He has only been charged, not tried and convicted. ¥ In no way should Mr. Dailey’s alleged actions be attributed to the City of Duluth Police Department.
It’s obvious to me that there’s a lot more going on than what meets the eye. And, like many of you, I will talk about this among my friends and neighbors. It’s human nature.
That said, Officer Dailey seems to have acted on his own, in no official capacity. Yes, he apparently had a gun, a badge, a bulletproof vest. However, according to reports, he was not wearing a uniform, he was not driving an official vehicle, and he was not acting on orders from a superior officer. That makes him a private citizen.
I’m sure that many within the Duluth Police Department are as stunned by these events as we are. They are human beings, too.
That’s my point. A teacher is a teacher while at school. A doctor is a doctor while at the office. A police officer is a police officer while on duty. When they are not at work, then they resume their identities as human beings.
If a teacher gets caught downloading child pornography on his home computer, for example, we don’t blame the school. If a doctor gets caught selling steroids that he stole out of the medicine closet, we don’t blame the hospital. How, then, can we hold the Duluth Police Department accountable for the actions of an officer who was off duty? We can’t, and we shouldn’t.
True story: Several years ago, a friend and I, and our dates, were at a haunted house display in Norcross. Long story short, my friend got into a disagreement with another patron. A friend of the patron jumped into the discussion and started to beat up my friend.
Police came to break up the scuffle, at which point the guy who jumped my friend said, “Hold on. I’m with the Douglasville Police Department. Here’s my badge.” The police arrested the errant officer and charged him with assault. They said that just because he had a badge did not give him license to act as he pleased.
The police asked my friend if he wanted to pursue the charges. They wanted to assure my friend that they wanted justice and felt what the officer did reflected badly on them.
My friend declined.
“You can’t indict a whole group of people based on the actions of an individual,” he said. “Hell, some people thought that Charles Manson was a nice guy at one point. We don’t think all flower children are like Manson, do we?”
Permalink | Comments (209) | Categories: Bill Allen
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