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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
22 Wednesday, August 21, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist Can I get a witness? With all due respect to Sgt. Bailey and the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office, whose service and dedication to professional- ism are both real and deeply appreciated by this space, the advice to citizens to stand back and <be a good witness= in the face of crime is ultimately damaging to a community. The <be a good witness= meme has been all the rage in law enforcement circles for several decades, and there are some solid reasons for it. Overzealous citizens who don9t understand the law, or their rights and duties, have caused serious problems for law enforcement, and occa- sionally themselves. They have been shot, mistakenly arrested, beaten up by sus- pects, murdered by suspects, and sometimes take action when there is, in fact, no crime. The specter of civil and criminal liability for addressing any crime is real, and potentially devastating for both citizens and law enforcement professionals alike. All of those are solid reasons to sit back and be a good witness, and it is the same advice that many departments give to off-duty officers who find themselves in a position to intercede or prevent crimes in progress. Nothing is worse 4 and it has happened more than once 4 than when arriving officers shoot an off-duty officer because he was carry- ing a gun in civilian clothes and failed to properly iden- tify himself. But the <good witness= premise is flawed on a num- ber of levels. The first of those is the implicit embrace of the nanny-state, which encourages weakness in law- abiding citizens by caus- ing them to fear virtually everything, and particularly the right and responsibil- ity to confront our nation9s growing multitude of utter scumbags. The flipside is that crimi- nals, particularly those packs of malicious young criminals and mischief-makers who have yet to be sufficiently thumped by life 4 and generally have little or no respect for much of anything 4 are emboldened to devi- ance every time law-abiding citizens walk away, or make the very funny threat (usu- ally while showing them their cell-phone) to call the cops. Turning everything over to the government also adds to the erosion of our rights as free citizens. As a citizen you have the legal right to detain someone suspected of a crime. You have the right to do that using the same use of force continuum that law enforcement does. But for years citizens have been asked to dumb themselves down, act like sheep, and let criminals run over the top of them while waiting to be rescued. There are actually people in this country who would like you to allow criminals into your house to steal your stuff and abuse your loved ones while you hide in a cry- closet frantically dialing 911. No, thanks. Being a good witness really boils down to some essential ingredients, which a surprising number of adults are incapable of cook- ing with, particularly when talking to a dispatcher under conditions approaching stress. First, is what you are see- ing actually a crime? Some knowledge of the law 4 which many people think they have and actually don9t 4 is probably important. Second, get a description of the suspect 4 what are they wearing, how old are they, are they white, black, Asian, Hispanic? That isn9t profil- ing, by the way, it9s being a <good witness,= and details matter. Which direction are they travelling? Are they on foot, a bicycle, or driving a car? What does the vehicle look like? Can you read the plate? Even a partial plate number can be helpful. And after all of that good wit- nessing, please stand around sucking your thumb until a deputy arrives, by which time everything will prob- ably be over. Insisting that citizens yield their rights, and one of the feature responsibilities of being an adult 4 involve- ment in the protection of their community 4 to merely witnessing crime is absurd. The <don9t approach, d o n 9t e n g a g e o r g e t involved= advice is fine for children, but not for adults. That is precisely how crimi- nals and mischief-makers take over a neighborhood, then a town, and eventually a criminal justice system. And that9s particularly true in a town like ours, which is severely under-patrolled, particularly during the sum- mer months when hordes of people descend on Sisters from who-knows-where. The dearth of patrols in our city 4 and a rapidly growing city means rapidly growing criminal behav- ior 4 is likely a staffing issue, and isn9t entirely the Sheriff9s fault. Sheriff Nelson would, beyond a doubt, love to throw a ton of deputies at Sisters9 bur- geoning criminal problems, and no law enforcement officer worth the weight of their badge wants their beat to suffer any crime at all, let alone a spree committed by a small number of delinquents. In law enforcement, as in the rest of life, squeaky wheels always get the grease, and if the people in this town want more patrols, they better start squawk- ing and wobbling 4 loudly and frequently 4 like the bad wheel on a shopping cart. They should probably demand that the City Council pony up some more money to get full-time deputies here, particularly through the peak tourism months. Citizens of this town, or any other, who are seri- ous about preventing crime should also attend a citi- zen9s academy, learn some- thing about the law, their rights and responsibilities, and make their own choice between merely witness- ing, or taking meaningful, responsible action to deter, interrupt, or prevent criminal behavior in our community. Hair, Nails, Brows & Waxing MEATS • CHEESES • EATERY • DRINKERY 110 S. SPRUCE ST. | 541-719-1186 OPEN EVERY DAY 9 AM TO 7 PM 541-549-6566 484 W. Washington Ave. Suite B The Kiwanis Food Bank needs your support... ...Now & All Year-Round! Checks payable to Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank can be mailed to P.O. Box 1296, Sisters, Oregon 97759 One Make a Diff erence! FOOD FO OD D DROP-OFF D RO ROP P OF OFF F LO LOCA LOCATION: O CA CATI T ION Washington Federal (By Ray’s Food Place) during business hours Saturday, August 31, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sisters Recycling Center 328 W. Sisters Park Dr.
