Having been a Police Officer for a couple years I felt the need to comment on this because I hear this complaint a lot from citizens during casual conversation.
First off, let me say thank you to the poster for showing the gratitude to Officer Bagley for the help that he gave her.
There are more than just a few things to be considered when someone is broken down on the side of the road when an Officer has to decide the level of help he is willing to give. Personally, I only feel the need to change a tire for someone who is physically unable to do it themselves, for instance someone with a handicap or someone elderly. If you drive a car you should be aware of basic emergency maintanence problems that you might encounter and be able to fix them. You don't drive a car without knowing how to put gas in it so why would you drive one without knowing how to change a tire. It's not rocket science and I guarantee we all know at least one person that could teach us how to change one.
Second, the police are not AAA. Someone had mentioned liability. Liability is certainly one factor to consider. If I were to change a tire on someone's car and make a mistake tightening one of the lug nuts and that person has an accident due to that, I have taken on a HUGE liability. In the old days nobody would dream about suing someone who had tried to help them, well this isn't the old days. There are many roadside services and companies who are more than willing to come out if you have a problem that you can't fix and they will charge you for it, why should the police be obligated to do it in non life threatening situations for free.
I can give you an example from my own personal experience why I may be a little bitter to this topic. One Saturday last July I had just started my shift at 3:00 pm and was patrolling Route 50 between Vienna and Cambridge when I came upon a car stopped in the median. The woman was traveling west and had a flat tire on the driver's side of her car. I stopped and she asked for my help. She was accompanied by her son (which I would guess was about 18 or 19) and what appeared to be his girlfriend (about the same age as him). Well first I explained to her that in order to change her tire she was going to have to pull to the other side of the road because it would be impossible to jack her car up on that side in the moist dirt and grass. I blocked traffic for her as she moved her car to the right shoulder. I have already at this point assumed a liability. If this woman wants to be ignorant she can say that now her wheel is bent because Officer SuchandSuch instructed her to drive on a flat tire, not likely but possible. So when we get to the shoulder she states that she had a jack and a spare tire in her trunk. I ask her son if he knows how to change it and he replies with the common "Nah man, I never done that before". The woman says she doesn't either and the girl just looks at me like I have three heads. It was a hot day (about 90-95 degrees), and traffic was extremely busy.
I decide to change the tire for the woman. I jacked her car up, start pulling off her flat tire and as I was to the trunk to get her spare out for her (which apparently even that was too much for her son to do), I notice that the young lady has since stripped down to a bikini, pulled out a beach towel, and started sunbathing on the side of Route 50 while her boyfriend sat next to her playing with her hair. So here I am, in my bullet proof vest, my polyester shirt, my wool/polyester pants, with my 20-25 lb gun belt and cute little hat, sweating bullets and changing a tire while two perfectly capable kids frollick (sp) on the side of Route 50. Well anyone that has ever changed a tire knows that it is practically impossible to do without getting dirt, oil, road grease, and everything else a tire picks up all over yourself. This is the start of my shift and I have 8 hours to go. So, being I commute 1 hour to and from work I will now be working, caked in dirt, drenched in sweat, for the duration of my shift. After that shift I will get the honor of having to pay to have my uniform dry cleaned. So the tire is changed, the woman did give me a quick "thank you" and subsequently drove off with me never hearing from her again.
So you can thank that woman, her son, and his cute girlfriend the next time I roll up behind you when you have a flat tire. What I will probably do for you is turn my lights on so that you don't get hit and offer to have our dispatcher call you a tow truck or you can fix it yourself.
In closing I am willing to take time out of my shift and most other Officers I know would as well, to teach ANYONE how to change a flat tire if the come to the Department I work at and ask for such instruction. It would take a total of about 10 minutes to teach someone and I'm more than willing to do that. Although I'm not going to say where I work I believe you could probably call any Department in this area and they would do the same. I expect though that I will never hear of anyone calling in requesting to be taught. That would take too much time out of their day when they could just hope that a Police Officer will do it for them when they need it.
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27 comments:
Officer So and So... I dont' blame you one bit. If it had been me... I wouldn't of changed that tire. Any 18 year old male can figure out how to change a tire. If he doesnt know how.. his mother needs to take away his PS3 or Xbox360 and make him go outside and figure it out.
It just seems that nowadays most of our youth in particular have become accustomed to the fact that you no longer need to learn how to do anything for yourself because there will always be someone you can call to do it for you.
While I admit I had to laugh, especially at the comment "cute little hat". You are a better person than I am. I would have taken that tire iron to the side of that boy's head. He is no kind of man, and really what kind of mother is that woman letting him get away with not assisting you in some way... and letting that girl sunbathe. WTH!!! I am a female and my father made sure, before I ever took driver's ed, that I knew how to at least change a tire. I don't know what they teach in driver's ed now but they sure didn't teach you anything other than operating a motor vehicle in 1990. Hopefully this officer is appreciated a little more in the future for his random acts of kindness, and I am truly grateful for may parents signing me up for AAA when I became a licensed driver.
The mother of the 18-year-old should of MADE him get out and change the tire, with the officer directing him how to do it. There is no excuse for him sitting on his butt!
The kid is obviously a punk. I understand the Officer's frustration. It just stink for those of us who know how to change a tire, but physically can't (especially cuz you guys like to use power tools to put the lug nuts back on). As usual one dumb idiot ruins it for the rest of us. What the cop should have done was take the little punk in the woods, beat the crap out of him and then made him come out and change the freaking tire. Thanks for what you do. God knows I couldn't deal with these idiots.
My daughter (20) had a flat tire in our driveway and I told her to take it off and I would take it to get it fixed and she could put it back on. She said she didn't know how and I told her that she didn't need to drive if she couldn't change a tire. She changed it in the rain and mud! Shame on that lazy boy!
Lazy is the word. I feel certain the kid could have sucessfully changed a tire. I see this kind of crap all the time, The new younger generation of computer wizards and sex maniacs refuse to participate in anything involving MANUAL LABOR !!!
As a police officer, most people expect me to change their tire; and I'm a woman. While I know how to change a tire, I'll gladly teach anyone how to change their own tire. I won't leave you stranded on the side of the road, but don't be surprised when I teach you how to do it yourself (if you phyically able to do so). Trust me, you'll feel more independent in the end.
yeah good idea beat the kid up for not having changed a tire before. Idiots. So brutish and dumb.
Officer why didn't you tell the young man to do it and guide him? If he refused offer to call a tow truck and be on your way. Be a man - oh wait if you were a man you wouldn't be a cop!
And as for commuting to work. Come on that's a lie you start work as soon as you get in the car.
Cops don't do anything anyway. When was the last time you prevented a crime from happening on route 50 between vienna and cambridge? NEVER. You just ticket people for moving violations and give people a hard time. It's a racket for making money and you know some of those fines are exorbitant.
If it were up to me I'd take all the cops off their beats and have the cleaning up the streets. I bet there wouldn't even be any more crime than there already is. And traffic would flow a lot nicer too I would bet my life savings on that.
98% of cops are corrupt. That 1 in 50 who isn't corrupt will be soon from working with all the a77holes.
1:16 - you have no idea what your talking about and are lacking in the respect department. Whose to say this officer doesn't live in a different state than the one he is employed in? If he lives in Delaware, he has to commute to Maryland. There are far more corrupt people than cops.
My life experience has taught me that people such as "1:16 pm" deserve the death penalty due to not having anything worth saying or contributing to society period! Give me a break who's moderating today Joe?
1:16 you just got out of jail ,
it's very obvious. You will be back in very soon. Leave your name next time chicken $hit. You were
the kid wouldn't help change the tire.
Changed a tire once for two very old ladies who came into the gas station where I worked. These ladies had no idea where anything was (wheel cover locks), so I had to improvise with my own tools and other items. I placed the doughnut (puny little spare) on their vehicle and told them not to drive for too long on it or too fast on it before getting the full sized tire changed and replaced. They asked me what they owed me and I said Nothing, consider it a kind act. They came into the gas station and threw 10 bucks in singles on the counter before leaving. Two weeks later they came back ranting about a lawsuit because when they took the tire to be replaced (bent the rim on the curb, of course they had NO IDEA why the tire was flat...) the guy told them how dangerous it was to drive for two weeks on a doughnut... That pretty much did me in for the good samaritan bit. It's a shame...
Hey rookie, let a veteran tell you how to handle that in the future. First off, every time you make any type of stop in your police vehicle you're assuming liability. If taking responsibility and assuming liability is too much for you, find another profession because law enforcement obvioulsy isn't for you. If there was an able bodied male in that car who didn't know how to change a tire, I'd tell him I'll give him a free lesson, with him doing the work and you giving the instruction. If he's not interesting in learning, I'd then offer to call AAA or other roadside service for them if the don't have a cell phone handy. If, in your case, people start shedding clothes to sun bathe on the roadside, tell them this isn't the time or place. Remember, you be the man, act like it. I'll change for old folks and helpless females, but able bodied guys will get my time and attention while they're changing their vehicle's flat, but little else.
Lazy is the word. I feel certain the kid could have sucessfully changed a tire. I see this kind of crap all the time, The new younger generation of computer wizards and sex maniacs refuse to participate in anything involving MANUAL LABOR !!!
12:59 PM
and A$$holes like 1:16
It isn't all the kids faught it all starts at home with the parents. Kids learn what they see so they probably have parents like 1:16 and not a parent like me that teaches respect and responsibility. And for the officer he sounds like a jerk like my ex-husband cop. He should have made the punk change the tire and he would not have to whine.
I don't blame the officer one bit for being bitter about this situation. I had my tire blow out on me a couple summers ago on my way to wrok in OC. It was probably about 100 degrees outside. I had called for backup to help me with the tire but since he was in Delaware at the time I had a long wait. One state trooper. I hate that I didn't get his name, stopped and asked me if I was okay. My tire literally exploded to the point that it bent my bumper, we later found out this occured from a bad alignment job when I took my car in to be repaired. I assured the officer I was okay and that I did not need for him to change the tire, he did offer, because I had someone coming to help. He then left and circled back around to check on me every so often to make sure I was okay. I understand why people don't stop to help in these situations, passing motorists, because it's hard to tell what kind of person is on the side of the road anymore. I can't say how much I appreciate this officer continuously stopping to check on me, a 20 year old female, until I received help. Men and women who choose to be officers put their lives on the line every day for us and for that we should be thankful. And yes, after that incident I very quickly learned how to change my tire.
If it would have been me, I would have taught BOTH of those kids, right then and there how to change a tire. No sitting on your butt while someone else does the work. I see that lot though. As long as someone else does it they dont care. I could never just sit and watch someone work and do nothing to help out.
Amen to that! Police Officers are not mechanics and to tell you the truth they don't get paid enough to change flat tires. So, all you bitches can change your own tires.
The mother's an ass, her 18-year-old son is an ass, and 1:16 is an ass. There. I feel better.
Just know that good samaritans are never fully appreciated, but the one up there knows who did what during their lifetimes, and that's all that matters when you get up there (or not). Good works are best left as works unnoticed by others; they're more meritorious that way.
You forget to tell how you put your life on the line everyday.
1:16. While I'm not going to dignify most of your post with a response I will explain the one thing that you questioned about my post. A certain state law enforcement agency routinely transfers and assigns it's employees many miles away from where they actually live. I commuted an hour until I got into my area of responsibility and had to be there when my shift started. Therefore I didn't just get in my car and am all of the sudden at work. I know of one officer that lived in Salisbury but worked in Easton. When he got promoted, his department without any request from him was transferred to Pikesville. He commuted 2 1/2 hours each way until he could get a transfer back this way. When you have a house, children, and friends in a certain area you don't always want to move when you know that 6 months to a year later you can transfer back. Next time you want to call someone out on something, you may want to know what you're talking about.
I would told the girlfriend to put her clothes back on and find a REAL man.LOL.Not to be sexist because us women should learn how to do stuff too but an 18 yr old boy should at least know how to change a tire and check fluids.My younger brothers were waist-deep into the hoods of cars and trucks at 16.
I just hope that 1:16 is never being robbed, beaten, or in a horrible accident that he needs a police officer's assistance. The police will come to your aid not matter who you are. I for one would not p**s on you if you were on fire.
No "home training" is what these lazy kids are all about.
Good grief, changing a tire is hardly rocket science. "I don't know how" translates to, "I don't want to." I'll never forget my first flat tire, because I got out, found the jack, and figured it out myself. I can't stand the helpless woman act. What, are you afraid you'll ruin your manicure?
Comments have bee made that the officer should have talked the son through changing the tire; not a bad idea, but why not talk the mother through it? She needs to learn it because she has obviously raised a son whois good for nothing.
Granny Dragon you took the words out of my mouth..or well off my finger tips I guess! I am a female that has been working on cars since I was 8 years old. My father instilled in me to never depend on someone else to be my hero, rather he encouraged and assisted me to be my own hero. I can go from an evening gown to a tee and sweats and not flinch during the transaction!
My uncle once stopped to help an elderly woman that was broke down on the side of the highway. As he was leaning over the engine compartment two younger males ran up an embankment near the "disabled" car and attacked him. He was stabbed repeatedly, beaten, then robbed. The woman plugged a spark plug wire back in and took off with the two men. My uncle was lucky that he was not killed that night. I stop to help people that have children in the car, because even if the driver is perfectly capable of changing a tire it takes a split second for a child to jump out of the car and be struck by a passing motorist. A few bad apples are not enough to change my desire to help people in need, but my uncles incident is always in the back of my head so any time I stop to offer assistance I am always aware of my surroundings. If someone or something doesn't "feel" right I will simply offer to call AAA or a tow company and leave. I think the best advice is never leave your fate in the hands of others and never put yourself in a harmful situation.
1:16 was most likely the 18-year old boyfriend.
This post is something I agreed whole heartedly with. Police are not mechanics.
To set the record straight just in case any one was wondering, I know how to change a tire, this officer who helped me was just a nice person who did a kind act for a stranger, which gives me hope for the rest of the world. We need more people like Mr. Bagley. I think the world would be nicer.
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