Cop arrests daughter's boyfriend

[Hurlshort]

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/c...6989?source=rss

 

The story here is that a protective father used his job to scare the pants off his daughter's boyfriend after he found out they had sex. Now the cop is on administrative leave and the boy has filed charges.

 

As a father, I really have a hard time siding with the dumb teenage kid. Heck, as a teenager I was very aware of the fact that one of the girls I knew had a cop for a dad. When we got into a car accident one night because I was driving too fast, the first thing I did was call her father and apologize.

 

What does everyone else think?

[Gorgon]

So this little family drama is more interesting to you than abuse of power, which the officer is quite evidently guilty of. He is not supposed to arrest anyone without a warrant, this is pretty basic stuff. The boyfriend was obviously young and impressionable and unable to tell it was a charade, it must have seemed quite Kafkaesque.

[Gorgon]

You have way too much respect for authority Hurlshot.

[Hurlshort]

I'd say the officer may deserve a reprimand, more because he didn't include the boy's parents on the charade than anything else. Although the story is a bit confusing on that element, it sounds like the boy's parents originally went along with it.

 

The boyfriend may be young and impressionable, but that didn't stop him from doing a very adult act with the officer's daughter. Again, I have a hard time sympathizing with him for a few different reasons. Number one, I have a daughter and I can see myself doing the same thing (notice he also took his daughter to juvenile hall to scare her as well.) Two, I have a son and would fully support him getting scared to death in this type of situation. And three, I work with dumb kids all day long, and a healthy dose of fear is the only reason I can do my job. Without it my classroom would be anarchy.

[Hurlshort]

You have way too much respect for authority Hurlshot.

 

I am a figure of authority. I greatly respect myself.

[Oner]

He had consensual sex with his girlfriend!

The dumb ****!

Where is humanity going to end up if things like this continue to happen!

[Rosbjerg]

"What right does he have to use his uniform, his gun, his handcuffs if all he is is a dad?'' - very true.. Hi didn't come there as a police officer, he came as an angry father. A reprimand is without a doubt getting off easy, I seriously would consider firing him.

 

If the boy should suffer any consequences, so should the daughter - how come he is more guilty just by virtue of being male?

[Monte Carlo]

The cop should have known better. He should also have avoided being caught.

[Purkake]

Slow news day?

[Oner]

The cop should have known better. He should also have avoided being caught.

You mean kill the kid when no one was looking?

[Monte Carlo]

No, the kid was only doing what young guys have been doing since time immemorial. I'm just thinking that the cop should have used his imagination and kind of created a bit of distance from it all.

[Gorgon]

You have way too much respect for authority Hurlshot.

 

I am a figure of authority. I greatly respect myself.

But authority isn't inherently good or bad, and certainly shouldn't be respected for itself. That's how people end up playing along with Totalitarianism. Here is a clear case of authority used for wrong, and you don't seem to care.

 

I dunno, can you picture yourself heiling along with the crowd. (this would be one of them rhetorical questions)

 

Edited September 26, 2010 by Gorgon

[Calax]

I'm gonna side with the family on this one. There is no reason the officer should have done the whole "scared straight" shenanigans with the son. The thing is, he put on the uniform, he was no longer acting in the capacity as a father and was acting as a cop once that uniform went on. In the same way that a soldier can't abuse his uniform to get stuff or an employee can pull stupid actions in their work clothes, he shouldn't be able to make everyone have a heart attack by "arresting" the son.

 

Lets change things a tiny bit, lets say you're a GM on an MMO, and your kid is getting grief ed by some dink in another state. Is it perfectly ok for you to use your GM abilities to go in and make the griefers gear shatter, and take everything he worked hard for? Then give him a talking to in personal messages for an hour before going "Ha ha ha... here's your gear, don't **** with my family!" Is that ethical? or does it change because he's a cop and sex is involved?

[Darth InSidious]

The cop needs to be fired; he evidently doesn't know the limits of his authority.

[Hurlshort]

Bringing up Hitler is a bit absurd. This cop broke rules, the problem with fascism is everyone is following rules.

 

You also don't stop being a father when you put on a uniform. I have a hard time taking away someone's livelyhood becauise he scared a dumb kid.

[Darth InSidious]

Really. I have a hard time accepting that a man who doesn't know the limits of the law should be considered an acceptable person to enforce it.

[Oblarg]

Breaking news: Teens have sex!

 

Yeah, this cop was completely ****ing out of line. I don't see how anyone could sympathize with his position.

[Monte Carlo]

Darth is right, Hurlie you're a teacher, I bet you wouldn't screw up a kid's grades if say they'd given your kids a hard time at school or whatever.

 

Cops can deprive people of their liberty, carry weapons, ruin your day. I'm not sure the guy should be sacked, but some sort of reprimand is in order.

[Calax]

You also don't stop being a father when you put on a uniform. I have a hard time taking away someone's livelyhood becauise he scared a dumb kid.

When you put on a uniform, you represent everyone in that uniform. His deliberate use of his position and power to "scare" the kid on a very personal matter is not something that is ok and he should probably be tossed from his job in a similar way that a guy who used his position of power to get laid by a prostitute should.

 

May I ask you as a teacher, Would it be ethical of you to fail a student for half a semester because he's sleeping with your daughter? And then after a stern talking to, you turned around and gave him is real grade?

[Oner]

Lets change things a tiny bit, lets say you're a GM on an MMO, and your kid is getting grief ed by some dink in another state. Is it perfectly ok for you to use your GM abilities to go in and make the griefers gear shatter, and take everything he worked hard for? Then give him a talking to in personal messages for an hour before going "Ha ha ha... here's your gear, don't **** with my family!" Is that ethical? or does it change because he's a cop and sex is involved?

TBH a griefer would totally deserve it.

[Monte Carlo]

+1

[Raithe]

Well.. because the parents went to the police over the matter.. both kids got cited with "underage sex" so there was the illegal aspect of it..regardless of how much it's "teenagers being teenagers".

 

People have lines they'll cross to protect family. Especially dad's over protecting daughters.

 

Dad's scare daughters boyfriends all the time, it's part of the job of being a dad.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Meh, seems like a fairly straight forward ethical/legal violation that should be addressed - id est he should be held accountable for abusing his powers.

 

[Hurlshort]

Would I use my power as a teacher to protect my daughter from a sexual relationship? Of course! That is the kind of question only people without children would ask.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Would I use my power as a teacher to protect my daughter from a sexual relationship? Of course!

 

Should you also be held accountable if you misused your powers while doing so? Of course!

 

EDIT:

You could claim mitigating circumstances and, depending on the situation, get things waved - but that doesn't mean that the initial investigation should not occur.

Edited September 26, 2010 by Deadly_Nightshade