>Such comments don't help the relationship between bicyclists and
> police in which we hope to ride. The reason a harsh sentence may not
> be given the driver is that major fault lies with supervisors and
> policy they enforce. Documented and reviewed is that these officers
> serve consecutive 12-hour shifts. If this were Abu Ghraib or
> Guantanamo, supervisory culpability would not be considered, but we
> are a bit more civilized in Santa Clara County than that.
>
> Jobst Brandt
>>I wasn't aware that the RBT charter limits comments to those "helpful"
>>in Santa Clara County politics.
>>I certaintly hope no one in the families and other loved ones of the
>>dead and injured cyclists families reads your cynical attitude to
>>their loss.
Please identify the "cynical attitude" where Jobst showed disrespect to the
families of those involved in this tragedy.
You don't have to pass the AP english comprehension exam to recognize that
Jobst was pointing out that blame might lie in multiple places, not just
with the police officer who ran the cyclists down.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
"Andre Jute" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:c0eb793e-c853-45b9-acc1-e9828762cebd@p25g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
On May 10, 9:04 pm,
[email protected] wrote:
> Andre Jute wrote:
>
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/may08/may10news
>
> >>> You will remember this as the incident when the (literal) sleeping
> >>> policeman mowed down two cyclists on the other side of the road.
> >>> Likely
> >>> charge against the county deputy would be vehicular manslaughter.
> >> That would seem the appropriate charge. He is likely not a
> >> premeditated type candidate.
> > The two years mentioned elsewhere in this thread as a likely sentence
> > seems to me low for a case where someone by negligently going to sleep
> > behind the wheel killed two people and injured another. Would the
> > sentence be per death and injury, and run consecutively?
> > And now we're told by Ryan, presumably from experience, that the
> > sombambulist driver -- a policeman no less! -- is not likely to serve
> > any time...
> > Looks to me like a cyclist's life is held pretty cheap.
>
> Such comments don't help the relationship between bicyclists and
> police in which we hope to ride. The reason a harsh sentence may not
> be given the driver is that major fault lies with supervisors and
> policy they enforce. Documented and reviewed is that these officers
> serve consecutive 12-hour shifts. If this were Abu Ghraib or
> Guantanamo, supervisory culpability would not be considered, but we
> are a bit more civilized in Santa Clara County than that.
>
> Jobst Brandt
I wasn't aware that the RBT charter limits comments to those "helpful"
in Santa Clara County politics.
I certaintly hope no one in the families and other loved ones of the
dead and injured cyclists families reads your cynical attitude to
their loss.
Nor was I calling for "harsh" sentences. I was observing that a two
year sentence for a negligent murder, if served, would be lenient. A
suspended sentence doesn't even qualify as a slap on the wrist.
Nor am I impressed with your attempt to blame the supervisors. The
policeman who killed those drivers should take responsibility for his
actions; he could have slept in the stationhouse until he was fit to
drive.
If this policeman's superiors are culpable, they should be in the dock
with him under criminal charges. And we would like to hear from the
politicians, apparently your pals, that disciplinary action is taken
against them for their poor judgement.
There was a time when a policeman was held to a higher standard than
the other criminals on American streets.
Two innocent men are dead, and you, Jobst Brandt, want to play
politics. That's contemptible.
What's more, if cyclists trade away the lives of two of their own for
no greater gain than the vague wishful nothingness of "the
relationship between bicyclists and police in which we hope to ride",
you will be seen as weak and powerless and treated with the contempt
you deserve. You don't earn respect by snivelling and selling out.
Andre Jute
Disappointed
