PULL ME OVER - I'VE GOT NOTHING TO HIDE

I have, with some frequency, pointed to my support of the police department
as they perform their duties and am inclined to give them latitude in the
area of personal discretion. I suppose there is just enough fascist in me
to believe that if we can curb crime at the expense of temporarily
inconveniencing a few motorists, then we made a pretty good bargain.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to test my feelings in this regard
against personal experience.

After a performance at A.R.T. (Appalachian Repertory Theatre) on John B.
Dennis, I made my exit through one of our driveways that is shared with a
used car dealership. The driveway is primarily asphalt but has a layer of
loose gravel on it, and as I applied the brake I slid just a bit before my
car came to a stop. I waited there to merge into southbound traffic.

Seeing an opening in the onrushing line of headlights, I accelerated into
the right lane when the car coming up behind me slowed dramatically instead
of pulling into the left lane and passing me by. Almost immediately the
bubble gum machine atop the cruiser came on, and I pulled over to be
approached by a lady officer and member of Kingsport's finest.

I didn't think I had merged dangerously and knew I hadn't had time to work
up enough speed to be exceeding the limit. I thought maybe a tail or brake
light had gone out.

I watched her through my rearview mirror as she approached with caution and
wondered when she tugged at the hatchback of my car on her way by. I
discovered later that new procedure requires officers to check to see if
trunks are locked when they approach a driver. This was implemented when
one policeman was ambushed by a gunman hiding in the trunk. The thug came
out firing after the officer had his back turned and had engaged the driver
in conversation.

The lady was very polite and asked to see my driver's license. She then
inquired about why I was coming out of the used car lot at that hour of the
night. The Appalachian Repertory Theatre is set back from the street, and
it isn't immediately apparent that the theatre parking lot is even back there.

Once I explained that to her, she told me that the car lots in the area had
been suffering losses to vandals and thieves and that they were watching
the car lots very closely. She thanked me for my trouble and sent me on my way.

I recall wondering at the time, in an academic sense, where was her
probable cause for stopping me. So far as I know, there is no crime in
coming out of a used car lot at night. Many I know would cling to that
aspect of the experience and whine about their "rights" being violated.

I didn't.

Perhaps knowing an officer who was involved in a shooting as the result of
the traffic stop of an enraged and drunken driver, I tend to think of these
things through the eyes of the officer.

I know if I were a cop I would not look forward to the prospect of pulling
over yet another car that might contain someone violent. Police have to
play that lottery each time they make the decision to pull someone over.

Maybe it sounds solicitous, but I felt good about the experience. If there
is a rotten apple in the bunch, I do not object to being one of the good
apples that must be gone through in order to find it.

It just seems to me that if we would get behind police efforts to find
those among us who prey upon the city, Kingsport might just become a better
place to live. Some are anxious to haul out scare words like "police state"
and hyperventilate over the potential for abuse of such power.

I tend to believe that if officers abuse their powers they will be weeded
out by the very people we've charged with the responsibility of maintaining
order in the community.

Anytime the police want to pull me over to re-establish the fact that I'm
not running drugs or carrying stolen goods, they are welcome to do so.

Maybe having our delicate sensibilities wiggled once in awhile will remind
us of the impossible task with which they are charged.

Jim Richards is managing director of the Appalachian Repertory Theatre.
E-mail him at apprep@preferred.com.

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