SCHP: Just a Gang of Good Ol’ Boys?

The following was submitted by M.

Hank Williams Jr. once wrote a song titled “That’s How They Do It in Dixie.” Coincidentally,  this would seem to be the exact premise the South Carolina Highway Patrol operates by. Never mind the motto of “courtesy, integrity, responsibility” they drill into recruits brains at their outdated training facility in Columbia. For 17 weeks, which, by the way, ranks as the last in training hours required to be a trooper in most states, prospective recruits are brainwashed into believing that working wrecks and writing tickets is a “prestigious” career and highly rewarding. Their website mission statement even boasts about the organization having the “highest standards of conduct and professionalism” in case by chance some unknowing individual wishes to enlist to become a “revenue agent” trolling the highways and interstates of the palmetto state flaunting their authority and even if need be chasing kids through apartment complexes….can you say “safety hazard”?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmGTX3pCAVs

Perhaps, pulling a female out of the car and brutalizing her for speeding is exactly what is taught at the “trooper manufacturing plant” in Columbia. It is despicable to watch and even harder the conceive the thought that this is somehow the way they “do it in Dixie.” Excuse me while I submit my application.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNWPcB-CW0g

Lawbreaking just seems to be a way of life in the Palmetto state. Heck, even governors do it…yes, that’s plural! (Mark Sanford, Andre Bauer) Hmm…wonder if they were ticketed? Ticket? Why would we ticket a “member” of our “criminal enterprise?” That would be a “crime.”

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=7054061

Where is the accountability? In a state with 771 troopers and winning the title of state with the highest rate of highway fatalities year in and year out, it’s no wonder, half of the “good ol’ boys” who should be out there doing good are much more occupied with doing anything but patrol highways. Once again, an oath was taken and sworn to, correct? How can any type of organization fool tax paying citizens into thinking they’re legit from the get-go when the mayors, governors, police directors and everyone from the top down is engaged in serious law breaking? There is a legal standard referred to as “fruit of the poisonous tree,” which, in the legal world, refers to obtaining evidence which is later deemed to have been obtained in an illegal fashion and ruled inadmissible in court proceedings. In South Carolina the standard should be referred to as “fruit of the already poisoned palmetto tree.” These troopers are nothing more than the poisoned fruit from an already poisoned tree.

Maybe we should take a “good ol’ boy” roll call:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2012-10-17/former-sc-trooper-arrested

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=708412

http://www.jasontgreenlaw.com/blog/2012/12/south-carolina-trooper-arrested-for-leaving-pedestrian-accident.shtml

http://www2.nbc26.tv/news/2012/dec/04/south-carolina-trooper-fired-after-giving-officer-ar-5102718/

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2010/sep/13/2/state-trooper-arrested-dui-fired-immediately-ar-824752/

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1999/05/10/met_261075.shtml

http://summervillejournalscene.com/ap/Former-SC-trooper-charged-with-domestic-violence

Even the former director and a mayor wanted in on the action…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/mayor-pulls-trooper-over_n_1230922.html

http://www.wistv.com/story/6394620/former-sc-highway-patrol-director-charged-with-criminal-domestic-violence?clienttype=printable

Yep…looks like all the criminals are in attendance even the…….yes, dare I say hookers!

http://www.fitsnews.com/2012/08/24/sc-highway-patrol-implicated-in-lexington-ring/

Maybe we should have some pity on the organization after all. Their state salary is 11% lower than that of other highway patrol organizations, with graduation salary of just over $31,000, so I guess the thefts, robberies and other miscellaneous felonies make it all more than justifiable? Right. So, perhaps fetching beer, condiments, prostitutes and the occasional delivery of football tickets to the dark shadowy figure in the parking lot are among the duty requirements of a SC trooper. I wonder which week in the academy the protocol for that is taught? It would appear that from the top right on down, badges do grant extra rights in the Palmetto state, but after all, “That’s how they do it in Dixie.”