once upon a time, a police officer refused a direct order from his sergeant to arrest a homeless man, and for that he was punished. of course, the punishment could’ve been worse. he literally put his job on the line because he wouldn’t arrest a homeless man in new york.<\/p>\n
\nConscientious Cop Punished Anyway<\/a> [ap via abc news, october 29, 2004]<\/div>\nIn a written decision finding Delacruz guilty, a department judge found that “by deciding which orders he would obey, the (officer) is treading on a slippery slope that would undermine the leadership and viability of the department, if unchecked.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and this leaves us with the question… is following a questionable order what we expect of our law enforcement personnel, or do we demand the standard we have held others to: “i was just following orders” is no excuse.<\/p>\n
it’s an old story, from 2002 – i picked up on it in october from the ap wire when the decision to suspend delacruz brought it back to life, but i did find some more contemporary material<\/a><\/p>\n
so, a nod from me to eduardo delacruz. thanks for stepping up.<\/p>\n