Dear Editor,
I would have laughed out loud at Tim Argent’s letter to the editor last week if I hadn’t found it so very infuriating. Mr. Argent wrote in last week to comment on an article regarding an Okotoks resident who was given a $400 stunting fine. According to the article, Rob Laird was driving over the bridge on Southridge Drive where an officer had pulled over another motorist during rush hour. As Mr. Laird drove by the officer, he rolled down his window and said something like “It’s a fine place to pull somebody over” which resulted in his hefty fine.
Mr. Argent contends that the bridge was just as good and safe a place as any to make a traffic stop in light of the fact Southridge Drive has two lanes, on or off the bridge. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to him that if the officer had waited 20 seconds before turning on his lights, the motorist could have slipped into a nearby parking lot to avoid causing any traffic delays.
Whether or not the officer made the traffic stop in a safe manner is quite beside the point, however. The issue at hand is whether making a comment out one’s window constitutes stunting and is worthy of a whopping $400 fine, especially since Mr. Laird was undoubtedly already crawling by at a snail’s pace because of the delay.
I believe that there are two kinds of police officers, the ones who are working to be of service and protect others (and we do have a number of them serving us in Okotoks), and the ones who enjoy being in a position of authority. An officer who would hand out a $400 ticket because you dared to question his judgment fits neatly into the second category in my opinion.
Tim Argent’s recommendation to Mr. Laird: cut your losses and apologize to the officer. Apologize? I just hope Mr. Argent is past the age of being able to apply to the police force, because heaven knows the last thing we need is yet another officer on the street who shares his line of reasoning.
Alana Pomares
Okotoks
