INGA BARKS: Don't trick drivers into breaking law
| Saturday, Jan 29 2011 10:00 AM
Last Updated Saturday, Jan 29 2011 10:00 AM
You're driving down the road, minding your own business, when suddenly a Bakersfield Police officer flags you down. You pull over, wondering to yourself, "Was I speeding? Did I make an illegal turn or run a light?" Your answer to yourself is, "No, no, and no."
Your heart is racing as the officer approaches and you wonder what on earth you did. Your plates are current, license valid, hands-free is at the ready, there's no poodle on your lap, your seatbelt is on and you don't match the description of any vehicle on an Amber alert. If you're like me, whose father was a Marine and a first responder, you respect authority and just know whatever that officer says will be right and just.
Then he explains why you're getting a ticket: You failed to yield for a pedestrian. And not just any pedestrian, but a police officer playing a pedestrian who steps out into the street right before you pass by.
That was the scene played out this week when the BPD produced a sting operation covered by KGET Channel 17 news to raise awareness of a driver's responsibility to look out for foot traffic. But based on what I saw on the news (and reviewed repeatedly for confirmation), there is NO conclusion to come to but this is a well intentioned set up.
I have no doubt that this sting was a sincere effort to encourage responsible driving. But that doesn't change how awkward it looks. If the goal was to raise awareness, why was it only carried by one news outlet? Why did people get a costly ticket and not a warning?
I encourage you to review the KGET video as I have. A white truck approaches the crosswalk as the officer/pedestrian steps out into the street. It appears as if the officer would have to run wildly and throw himself on the truck in order to be close enough to be hit. It also appears that the driver has become a criminal for merely sharing the street with the pedestrian.
Look, I support yielding to pedestrians, but were I one of those drivers ticketed, I'd take the footage to court with me because it doesn't make sense. If the officer/pedestrian stepped out into traffic in a safe manner, there would be no one to ticket. He had to put himself in peril for the driver to violate the law. Otherwise this sting doesn't work. Now I'm not saying that NONE of the 25 drivers ticketed were guilty, but I'm also not assuming that all nine fatalities in 2010 were the fault of the driver. After all, pedestrians also have a legal responsibility to cross in a safe manner.
Suffering from cognitive dissonance with my respect for officers and my confusion with this sting, I phoned Sgt. Mary DeGeare at the BPD and asked her for help. DeGeare suggested that the footage shot by KGET may have been affected by the angle of the camera and, in fact, these drivers were closer than they appeared on film. She said the officer was almost hit a few times, again begging the question why the department would allow an officer to put himself in peril to ticket someone who, unlike a john or drug dealer caught in a sting, isn't looking for trouble.
When I asked DeGeare why, if this is an effort to inform the public, only one TV station was invited to the sting, she said KGET had requested to film the exercise back in June. When I asked how the BPD knew in June that there would be a rash of pedestrian/auto accidents in December and January to merit this exercise, DeGeare explained that the timing of the sting was actually in conjunction with a grant they had received for this purpose. In other words, if the grant money weren't coming in, they wouldn't be trying to raise awareness!
Kudos and thank you to the police department for wanting to prevent crime and save lives. But let's hope that future stings will be reserved for pimps and drug dealers who intend to break the law, and not those of us who have to be tricked into breaking the law. Because that's not a sting. It's a burn.
-- Inga Barks, who hosts a talk show on KMJ AM 580, is one of four community columnists whose work appears here every Saturday. These are the opinions of Barks, not necessarily The Californian. You can e-mail her at ibarks@bakersfield.com. Next week: Ric Llewellyn.
