Jim Leach began his law enforcement career in 1975, and he shares his insights as a Criminal Justice
Consultant for Golden Media Group. Mr. Leach was President of Training Services Group, Inc. for 25 years, and taught courses concerning police management and ethics to many officers from all over the country. He also served in police management for several years.
“Remember, it all pays the same”
In the first two articles of this series we discussed allegations that surfaced through stories published by WSMV, Channel 4, in Nashville. Two former Tennessee state troopers, Ashley Smith and Adam Potts allege that undue pressure is being applied to force troopers to reach certain quotas regarding the number of DUI arrests they make.
Let’s take a look at some of these allegations.
When Ashley Smith’s sergeant called her to conduct a DUI investigation on a driver he had stopped for failure to dim his headlights, the sergeant may have been trying to give a trooper who was not showing much activity, a case. This is sometimes done to try and motivate the officer . It may also be done when the lieutenant is chastising the sergeant because an officer under his command is not producing.
She describes a difference of opinion concerning the nystagmus test. A lot of police work depends on
officer judgment. The sergeant had probably run a many more of those tests than the trooper and that
could account for the difference of opinion. Of course, we can’t overlook the fact that the story she told
reporters and the story she wrote in her arrest report are not the same.
The affidavit supporting the arrest is a sworn document. It would be interesting to see what she said there, but reporters could find no paperwork on the case at the courthouse. Credibility is an issue, either way.
By the way, she referred to making a stop on the headlight violation as a “chicken…t” stop. A lot of folks call that good police work. In order to interdict criminal activity on the roadway, it is necessary to stop cars. Criminals do not put signs on their cars saying, “I am hauling guns and drugs”, or “I just robbed a convenience store”, or things of that nature. If something about a vehicle draws your attention, it is your job check it out. That’s what officers are paid to do.
Many of the classes we taught through Training Services Group were dedicated to finding ways
to motivate officers to make more stops. Vehicle stops lead to bigger cases, just watch the
news!
The district map showing trooper activity seems like a pretty good idea to try and motivate
more activity. If you’re doing your job, it shouldn’t bother you. The tape with the bosses saying
things like, “arrest every DUI”, “Fill up the jails”, sounds bad. “Arrest 100 DUIs” is asking for a
lot. On occasion hyperbole may be used to try and emphasize a point. Run a tape on a college
football coach speaking to his team at halftime when they are putting forth their best effort. I
realize these are two different things, but I’ll bet you get my point.
So far as the people assigned to work on programs directed toward impaired driver
enforcement being expected to concentrate on DUI enforcement, I don’t really know what to
add. I hope they are, that’s what they are supposed to be doing!
The only “quota” speech was when I was a young trooper. The speech was delivered by three
older troopers who counseled me about writing too many tickets. They said it made other
troopers look bad. Their philosophy was, “Remember, it all pays the same.” That same attitude
still exists.
Single car accidents are unusual and are the result of the driver failing to maintain proper
control of the vehicle. The reason for losing control could be because something, perhaps a
deer or a dog ran in front of the vehicle, or the driver was texting and driving, or an oncoming
vehicle blinded him with bright headlights. The reason for leaving the scene could be getting
treatment for an injury, or the driver could be under the influence of an intoxicant and fears
dealing with responding officers.
Adam Potts was fired for leaving the scene of a single car accident.
There can be a fine line between motivating a person and putting too much pressure on them and that
can relate to a group or an individual.
No doubt there are supervisors in THP that put pressure on officers to make arrests. I’d bet that
you can relate to this, because all of us have been around supervisors who “go overboard”
sometimes. Law enforcement work is no different.
The decision to arrest a driver for DUI is a judgment call, and there are many factors to
consider. It’s a tough job, and troopers are not perfect. Sometimes they may make the wrong
decision.
We all make bad decisions. In our management courses, we also discussed ethics. When good
officers make a mistake, they own up to it and try and improve their performance in the future.
Others try and blame their mistakes on others.
