Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
As Balko points out, when police accused of misconduct are suspended it is almost always with pay. But here's a situation where a police officer was suspended without pay. Because he wrote a ticket - legitimately - to the son of the mayor:
Rowell is a new member of the five-man Stockton police force. So, last Tuesday he didn't think twice about pulling over a driver in a small white car for avoiding a DUI stop."He didn't have a driver's license, so I issued him a citation for that," Rowell explained.
He didn't think twice, that is, until he handed the ticket to the court clerk.
"She looked at it and said, 'Hey, you know you just gave the mayor's son a ticket?' And I said, 'Oh, crap,'" Rowell said.
And what ensued:
He said he had never met the driver, 29-year-old Jared Rydalch, before. He said Rydalch told him he was out looking for his dog, and asked him to tell the other officers to not pull him over again."I told him, 'No. If I see you driving around again, I'm going to pull you over again,'" Rowell said.
Rowell said he knew there was trouble when, about 20 minutes later, he found the chief of police in the mayor's truck in a heated discussion. Then he said the mayor, Dan Rydalch, rolled down the window and demanded he get in his truck. When he refused, Rydalch abruptly fired him on the spot.
"He told me, 'All right, I want your badge in the morning,'" Rowell said. "I tried to defend myself and say, 'First of all, look, he was breaking the law. Second of all, I didn't know he was your son.'"
Shortly after the incident, Rowell was told he was suspended without pay, indefinitely.
A story where the police officer is the good guy! The mayor should be impeached immediately. And if we had a sane justice system, he would then be facing charges of corruption and interfering with a police investigation.
Politics
Comments
What is "avoiding a DUI stop." Sounds like more than a street citation offense.
Sounds like the setup to "Footloose II".
Ed, I hope you will follow this case, since I can't be bothered, and that's what we pay you for.
ice9
Posted by: ice9 | November 6, 2009 9:08 AM
Stockton may be some way out in the sticks but I'm sure they have the internet by now and that this mayor will (hopefully) be feeling a little warm under the collar.
Corruption indeed but this may fall closer to the Louisiana JP doing things they way they were always done (barring mixed race marriage) without a shred of recognition that they were in any way illegal or immoral. In Stockton, it may be well understood you don't ticket elected officials or their families. The cop may have missed that memo.
Posted by: MikeMa | November 6, 2009 9:25 AM
Ice9,
Sounds like he did a U-turn (probably illegal) to avoid a DUI roadblock. We have them down here near the border for Border Patrol. Right before the checkpoint there are cones blocking the turn/u-turn break in the median. Nothing to really stop you from doing it except the half dozen or more Border Patrol agents sitting there will multiple cars pointed (generally) perfectly so they could take off after you if you were to attempt such a move.
This guy was probably:
1) Afraid because he didn't have his license
2) Intoxicated and trying to avoid having to go through the test and get busted
3) Both?
Did the U-turn, took off, and was pulled over. Makes the "I was looking for my dog" argument appear to be a "that's why I did the U-turn" argument.
I agree with Ed, the Mayor should be impeached. Sounds like the Chief fought for him to the point where his job was at least shaky, but it appears this mayor may have gotten his way in the past given what the clerk said, what the officer said, and how the mayor reacted. Very corrupt town.
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 6, 2009 9:29 AM
I hope that mayor loses the next election. Do you know if that police officer will challenge this in court? I don't know much about the legal system, but it must be illegal to "suspend" this guy when he didn't do anything wrong. If someone sets up a fund to cover his court costs, I'd support it. I wish we had more officers like Rowell.
Posted by: catgirl | November 6, 2009 9:31 AM
The mayor (Dan Rydach) lost Tuesday apparently, and the officer was reinstated on the 30th.
Posted by: strech | November 6, 2009 9:39 AM
This is a week old... Officer reinstated, with back pay, mayor lost election by a 3-to-1 margin.
Posted by: MattF | November 6, 2009 9:42 AM
I sent Mr. Balko an e-mail about another good cop. I hope he can do something with that story as well.
Posted by: democommie | November 6, 2009 9:45 AM
In the early 90s I worked not too far from Stockton. The town was notorious as a speed trap, and allegedly traffic tickets were its main source of revenue. Somehow I am not surprised that it would end up with a corrupt autocrat as mayor.
Posted by: bullfighter | November 6, 2009 10:18 AM
Shouldn't the title be: "Cop Gets Suspended Without Pay"?
Posted by: Nick | November 6, 2009 10:23 AM
Man, that just screamed "REDNECK!"
Posted by: FishyFred | November 6, 2009 10:25 AM
FishyFred, I've been to Stockton and if you live there you can rearrange the letters to spell 'redneck'. Really.
Posted by: MikeMa | November 6, 2009 10:30 AM
Stockton, Calabama.
Posted by: democommie | November 6, 2009 10:38 AM
It's not completely implausible. I have a friend who made a wrong turn, realized it and pulled a U-turn to get back on track -- but it was too close to a DUI stop so he got pulled over. Since my friend was clearly not drunk (he doesn't even drink, at all), had his license, and the U-turn was legal, the cop let him go pretty quickly.
So it's not impossible.. but yeah, I'm thinking most likely scenario is that he just didn't have his license.
Posted by: James Sweet | November 6, 2009 11:14 AM
democommie - I think this Stockton is the Utah one, not California given there are only five cops on the force.
Posted by: Michael Heath | November 6, 2009 11:26 AM
I thought that in most or all states, you don't need to have your license with you when you're driving, and if you get pulled over, you have a certain period of time (like 24 hours) to provide your license to the police.
Posted by: catgirl | November 6, 2009 11:40 AM
That's certainly not my experience, and the article makes it pretty clear that you are required to have your license with you to drive in whichever state this happened in.
Posted by: Infophile | November 6, 2009 1:49 PM
Michael Heath:
Rats, you durned buzzkill!
Posted by: democommie | November 6, 2009 3:05 PM
@16:
In my experience here in Illinois (with insurance cards, not licenses) the officer does write the ticket, and it has to be processed. You can then go into the courthouse, present your documentation, and get the ticket dismissed.
Posted by: psweet | November 6, 2009 4:56 PM
The only time I got a traffic ticket I didn't have my license on me and got fingerprinted as a result. The cop did tell me that if they were suspicious that I was involved in a crime they could hold me until they established my identity, though.
(Not as a threat or anything. I think he was just telling me why I shouldn't be blase about carrying ID with me.)
Posted by: Leni | November 6, 2009 5:07 PM
The last I heard, police were meant to serve the community in general, not serve oligarchs. The mayor is clearly interfering with official police duties and should be charged and imprisoned just like any other mafioso who threatens the police.
Posted by: MadScientist | November 6, 2009 7:33 PM
"Oh, crap?"
How 'bout, "So what," or "Isn't that something," or possibly, "What's that got to do with driving illegally?"
He should lose pay for not paying attention to the imperatives incumbent upon law enforcement officers. Yo! Officer Rowell! Equal under law?
*ya, but. he has authority on his side.*
chuckle
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | November 6, 2009 10:36 PM
On second read part of me wants to forgive him for his youth. Stupid kid.
But I won't. He was willing to take an oath and attempt to fill very large boots for not much money. Nonetheless, I expect him to be at least as aware as I am of the privileges and responsibilities that we are saddled with under the Constitution and its antecedents. I get the impression that Officer Rowell assumes his existence is contained within an otherwise empty volume. And that goes double for his immediate superiors.
Shit like this really chafes my ass.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | November 6, 2009 10:43 PM
Crudely, I read that statement as a realization of what would then occur: "Oh crap, this means that I'm going to have a major headache from this."
Posted by: Mr. B | November 6, 2009 11:07 PM
Yup, Mr. B.
Rowell's response indicates two things. First, he is aware of a "deep rift" between traditional faith in spooks and the demonstrable superiority of faith in nothing save human ability and a bit of luck and feeling pretty good today. He has so little vocabulary to describe the issue to himself, let alone others, that the issue is ultimately, in the face of normal, day to day issues, left behind.
And secondly he is transfixed by the notion that an ancient idea, by virtue of its pedigree and multiple translations, has a lock on truth that other notions, more loosely jointed and, err, adaptable to extant conditions that his fixation cannot account for, is by its antiquity and ubiquity alone deserving of favor.
I ask: who prayed for the internal combustion engine? Where in the ancient writings of the old ones is there anything like hide-a-beds and water based paints and epoxy adhesives? How about carbon fibers and the ability to start thinking about airplanes built like birds? (Leonardo doesn't count but he had some interesting ideas)
All I ever hear is that Dog can do it better backed up only by a full accommodation of belief by those who believe that as long as some belief aligns with some belief and nothing bad happens and so on until it becomes indecipherable. If Dog's so smart, why ain't he unmistakable? Like, say, the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist or maybe a bullet that stops just short of your nose like in that movie? If Dog really wanted to be known all he'd have to do is rotate to Moon 180 degrees around it axis. Everyone would know. But no. He don't.
I rest mostly undisturbed. Must be magic.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | November 7, 2009 1:25 AM
...the fuck?
Posted by: Enigma | November 7, 2009 6:09 AM
One is reminded of one of Tom Lehrer's songs:
I remember Sam,
he was the village idiot
And though it was a a pity it
was so.
He loved to burn down houses
just to watch the glow.
And nothing could be done
Because he was the Mayor's son.
Posted by: paulh | November 7, 2009 6:46 AM
Crudely Wrot:
That, my man, was one fine rant. I like the cut of your invective!
"If Dog really wanted to be known all he'd have to do is rotate to Moon 180 degrees around it axis. Everyone would know. But no. He don't."
I would settle for HIS making me King Of The Universe!!
Posted by: democommie | November 7, 2009 9:36 AM