This article was submitted to CopBlock.org by Joe. It originally appeared on Boston.com
No one could dispute that it was an awkward situation. A Boston police officer pulls over a driver who has been drinking, and he turns out to be the police commissioner’s son.
Those who study policing, however, differ on the officer’s decision Monday night to drive Philip Davis, the son of Commissioner Edward F. Davis, home, rather than arrest him.
Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the officer’s career is in the hands of the commissioner, making an already difficult policing decision even thornier.
“It’s not unequivocal that you have to make an arrest, but it’s close,” said O’Donnell. “Anything you say about this is colored by the fact that you were told who this young man is.”
But several people said that driving home suspected drunk drivers is not as unusual as it may seem. Officers have wide latitude to decide whether to arrest.
They caution, however, that showing leniency in such cases can have unintended consequences.
Officers can be held liable if the driver they drop off at home or put in a taxi gets into a fight or gets behind the wheel of another car and kills someone.
In the case involving Davis, the officer’s decision has raised questions about whether the son received unusually favorable treatment.
Philip Davis was about to drive home from the TD Garden, where he had gone with his girlfriend. But a Boston police officer, who was told by a passerby that Davis appeared to be drunk as he got into his truck, stopped the young man as he drove his blue pickup out of a downtown parking garage.
According to a police report, the officer learned that Davis had been drinking, but was unsure he was impaired and gave the young man and his girlfriend a ride home. Davis left his truck in the garage.
I’m all for keeping drunken drivers off the road and it’s obvious that throwing people in cages, confiscating their licenses and robbing them of thousands of dollars has not been effective in keeping seriously roaring drunk individuals from driving. (Though it has been pretty handy for many community fund’s bottom line).
On the other hand, if you are stopped too soon after you’ve had your second beer, you could be subjected to the above. Unless of course you’re related to the police commissioner…jajones;ed
It clearly said the officer was unsure if the guy was impaired. So he gave him the benefit of the doubt and yes, LEOs do do that. This is a very poor article with made up lies.
Bullshit Slappy. You are lying or naive. If they are unsure they do sobriety tests. The slightest suspicion is enough to get me held up and searched and tested for hours. Give me a break. You must be an asshole cop yourself.
Um, other citizens notified the officer that he had been drinking…he pulled him over on a suspicion of drunk driving and failed to continue to do the investigation. Simple favoritism. He’s gonna get that cookie and pat on the back from the commissioner.
He was taking a lead from Copblock and just gave him a lift.
@sloppy
You mean like the reasonable doubt in the case of a cop trying to pick up 14yo girls? Where they discontinued the investigation before he sealed his fate? I suspect the officer wasn’t eager to fret this kid.
More non favoritism for police and their families.
Typical BS with the thugs in Blue. I hope this kid gets shit faced again, but this time I hope and pray that he slams head on into the family of the cop that decided to suck the commissioners dick and that family dies a miserable burning death because they couldn’t get out of the car. I hope Officer sperm burper Is working that night and arrives on scene in time to hear them SCREAMING !
Can’t blame the cop. Arresting your boss’ son does as much for your career as knocking up your boss’ daughter
Haha ah, and the real double standard shows its ugly face.
Its ok for cop blockers to drive around with scanners and find drunks and give them a ride, but when a cop gives someone a lift the are the devil.
Fuckin hypocrites.
As I have said before, George Orwell had it right in Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.
We need more stories like this, as they serve to educate the public regarding systemic and institutionalized corruption within the law enforcement community.
***POLICE OFFICER RAPES A THREE MONTH OLD INFANT AND A ONE YEAR OLD CHILD!***
When you see common sense, t., underoath, psosgt and all the other shills spew their boot-licking propaganda here on Cop Block, remember, THIS IS WHO THEY ARE, THIS IS WHAT THEY STAND FOR, AND THIS IS WHAT THEY DEFEND!
Wichita KS police officer Officer Joseph T. McGill, 28, was convicted today of committing a sexual act on a 3-month-old child and a 1-year-old child. Officer McGill pleaded guilty in January 2012 in an unrelated case to sexual battery while on duty as a police officer and was sentenced to three years probation. Those charges stemmed from separate incidents in November 2010 and February 2011. The judge set sentencing for March 1.
http://www.kansas.com/2013/01/24/2649372/former-police-officer-convicted.html
I would love to see some sort of statistics on the amout of people police give rides home to compared to ones they arrest. Then find out how many of those they drove home are fellow cops, or family members of cops.
A good follow up would be if the Author of this story do a FOIA request to see which officer gave the kid a ride home and how many other people he has given a free pass to.
If the data shows he has only done this for the commisioners son then that shows favoritism.
i gotta think the officer should be getting some latitude from the cop-haters in here. so what, the commisioner’s son. sounds like he was still in the partking garage and didnt affect anyone on the road. christ, if we listened to MADD we would think every other car is being driven by a blackout drunk that’s about to kill someone.
how many of us think the ride home isnt the better option if it was us?
If the officer was unsure of his impairment, why didn’t he just give him a breathalyzer? Answer me that slappy.
There is the typical cop response spin. Leave out the fact that it was the police commissioners son. It is significant that they probably have only done that one time out of thousands of interactions with possible DUI suspects.
…. hypocrites?
The fact that driving the person home is an option proves that driving drunk is not a crime. Making the times people are arrested for it wrong. Potential for harm is not the same as harm.
Slappy…..
Go play in traffic…
do the words blow and blood mean anything to you?
And underoath he was cought driving wasnt he?? Im sure a cop would not let a copblocker give the guy a ride home if he has him pulled over..
matter of fact…thats going to be my new thing……Hang out at cop bars and call state police when they drive off from the bar drunk…maybe even hit their car with mine so the police have to come……
This story typifies police in general, and seems to have agitated the resident voot-lickers, shills, and puppets.
If I were Cop Block, I would allow trolls like common sense to offer their own stories to be posted here. Just imagine the hilarity and buffoonery that would ensure.
***POLICE OFFICER RAPES A THREE MONTH OLD INFANT AND A ONE YEAR OLD CHILD!***
When you see common sense, t., underoath, psosgt and all the other shills spew their boot-licking propaganda here on Cop Block, remember, THIS IS WHO THEY ARE, THIS IS WHAT THEY STAND FOR, AND THIS IS WHAT THEY DEFEND!
Wichita KS police officer Officer Joseph T. McGill, 28, was convicted today of committing a sexual act on a 3-month-old child and a 1-year-old child. Officer McGill pleaded guilty in January 2012 in an unrelated case to sexual battery while on duty as a police officer and was sentenced to three years probation. Those charges stemmed from separate incidents in November 2010 and February 2011. The judge set sentencing for March 1.
http://www.kansas.com/2013/01/24/2649372/former-police-officer-convicted.html
@underoath
You’re assuming every copblocker sides with the drunks. I only side against stopping people without a legitimate cause.(checkpoints) Big difference. This was wrong, and like when cops let the child predator go, in all likelihood an innocent person will pay for the cops giving one of their own a break.
Let’s see –
You equate a person finding a drunk and giving them a ride, which would both prevent them from killing somebody, and keep them out of the hands of the legal system with a cop using his “discretion” to not arrest a drunk for the sole reason that he’s a bigwigs kid.
And don’t bother denying that’s what happened, because nobody will believe it.
I really don’t give a shit what people around here believe. I’ve used my discretion several times to get people a cab or let them get a ride.
Underoath,
After pulling them over on suspicion of DUI? That may happen from time to time but lets knock the bs off pretending this is officer discretion and not what it is. A few years ago in Sacramento, there was a humerous story of the CHP stopping a Vallejo cop in his porsche doing over 100mph. The freeway cameras caught the whole thing and once realizing he was a cop the joked and had fun and sent him off. When the CHP was contacted they stated the same bullshit you did…officer discretion. The freeway he was on has a posted speedlimit, I believe of 65mph as its a more direct route to downtown sac and helps you bypass the interstate 50 and 80 routes. When speeds start to reach 20mph plus over, it is called reckless driving. This cop, off duty was 30-40mph over in his pov. It made all the radio station talk as they all said the same, typical cop bullshit. Any Joe Citizen stoppoed under such conditions would have been cited in a big way as 20 mph over is an automatic 2 points on your record where upon reaching 4, you have an administrative hearing to determine if your license needs to be revoked or suspended.
Now I do not have an issue with “officer discretion” but do not insult peoples intelligence and call this the same as it is not. He stopped the son under suspicion of DUI and cut him a break as he was his bosses son. As stated some cops do go soft and thats cool but those are far and few inbetween and extremely rare. Lets call this one for what it is!
@underoath: Using discretion is saying “no victim here” and not arresting any of them. Saying “I’m going to cage this person over bad legislation, but not his person” isn’t discretion at all. Don’t be fooled by the illusion of choice; go for the real thing!
@Underoath
“I really don’t give a shit what people around here believe. I’ve used my discretion several times to get people a cab or let them get a ride.”
Well please don’t use your discretion like that. If they are intoxicated and you can prove it, then bust em. It is one thing to ignore 5 over the limit or some crap like that. It is another to ignore intoxicated drivers.
Discretion is how Hulk Hogan’s son managed to keep his license long enough to kill another person. And that officer showed discretion with over 100 mph.
Rule #1 never write another cop or his family tickets.
If you don’t like it become a police officer and you too shall have a free pass
Screw you copblock.
Fuck you joker. This isn’t a speeding ticket, it’s drunk driving. He could kill someone. I guess we’ll have to wait until he kills a woman or two like Patrick Kennedy.
At least you aren’t a pretentious cop like all the others. Discretion my ass. Favoritism is what it is.
Joker,
You are correct, never turn on another cop is exactly what they are taught from day 1 which is why their oath they speak when sworn in is as useful as used toilet paper!
Actually driving drunk IS a ticket and class A misd.
The most hilarious thing about the whole “professional courtesy” thing is this – A cop on Police One wrote a column on why cops don’t ticket other cops. He says it’s because the same cop you ticket might be the one that passes you on the road when you are confronting a carload of gang-bangers. So if you wrote him a ticket, he might leave you to be murdered. LOLOLOLOLOL. That column said more about the mentality of cops today than a thousand posts on this site could.
This site is full of comments about the police “taxing” people and enforcing “victimless” crimes… SO WHY>>>>>>>>…………..isn’t this comment section full of cheers for the police officer giving the kid a rid home??
@papacy
Are you kidding? The issue is the obvious selective enforcement in favor of LEO’s and their families. Make no mistake, an innocent person will get harmed by this little piglet because daddy is a cop. He will do it again because he knows he can. He will wreck and hurt someone.
You aren’t that stupid you cannot see the end result of this.
@papacy = @psosgt
Stupid auto correct
Psogt, this is not a victimless crime. This is slightly below randomly shooting a gun inside a mall. It may be a ticket, but it’s one your getting arrested for, unless your dads a cop.