One of the joys of small town living is being able to socialize with one’s neighbors without harassment. But that simple pleasure of life was made much more difficult when an overzealous officer of the law, North Enid Police Officer John Miller, decided to write a motorist a ticket for stopping to say “hey” to a friend.
While there are signs all along the road for no one to park on the side, one lady decided to stop her Jeep, roll her passenger window down, and say “hello” to a good friend, Physical Therapist Gary Duckworth. Duckworth had been mowing the lawn but killed the motor on his push mower to say hey to his friend, Kali Wood.
Little did she know she’d be targeted for a ticket, for parking, not stopping to spread some community cheer. Officer Miller wasted no time, it seems, in writing Wood a ticket for parking on the road.
Duckworth then attempted to rationalize with the officer, who simply wasn’t standing to reason with the health professional.
“The car’s running, and we’re just talking,” Duckworth said and then he approached the officer again attempting to come to an understanding with him. But Miller simply responded, “Man, I’m not here arguing with you.”
It must be noted that the roads, neighborhood roads, have no double yellow lines, and may not even be within the jurisdiction of the police department as state maintained roads. Nevertheless, the officer followed through with presenting Wood her ticket and telling her the fine was $25.
The heavily redacted video (done so by the police department), doesn’t show the entire interaction, nor the discourse exchanged between the two. But, before leaving, however, Duckworth decided to take the opportunity to lecture Miller on what he could have done.
After reminding Miller he’s a taxpayer, knows everyone in the community, and declaring, “I pay your salary”, he asked, “You can’t even answer my question?”
“Your job is to protect and serve,” the physical therapist said. “You could have at least come by and at least told her, ‘you need to move.’ There are signs up, really?” Wood asked.
Miller ignored Duckworth, even after he said, “Excuse me!” Again he said, “Excuse me!” and approached Miller on the side of the road.
“Back up, or you’re going to jail!” the jittery officer said, and then he pulled his taser, pointing it at the yardman. “You better holster that!” Duckworth told him. The officer then replied, “I ain’t holstering nothing.”
“If you think you’re justified to pull a taser on me, just because you don’t want to answer my question, that’s a bunch of (inaudible),” the healthcare worker said. Duckworth told the officer he’d be hearing from his lawyer and promised not to let the issue go away quietly.
To many, who saw the video on Facebook, it seemed like a reasonable request. But to Officer Miller, the law was a little more cut and dry. Stop and get a ticket.
That’s precisely what Wood got. She has a court date, and will surely be accompanied by many of her fellow Enid community members who are a little more than outraged by the trigger-happy ticket pusher and his speech with a long-standing member of the community.
For their part, the North Enid Police Department is standing by their officer, even releasing video footage of the incident and saying an independent committee of community members had reviewed the interaction and concluded, “acted within department policy and his training.” However, after receiving so much backlash, the department pulled the video.
It appears as though both the department and the committee agreed that the yardman/physical therapist was a threat deserving of having a taser pointed at him. You decide. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Editor’s Note: I think it is quite clear that this is not an issue of an officer acting outside department policy or his training, quite the opposite. He was doing exactly what he was trained to do, with a local citizenry that he has been conditioned to see as “the enemy” or at the very least “antagonists” as a whole. Their very job is to keep the people quiet, in line, and compliant, and not to ‘protect and serve,’ as has been the mantra. The sooner this is understood, the sooner steps can be made to combat it.
Tazers can kill and maim
Police used to be trust worthy. With the way they act we can no longer trust them they will kill you in a heart beat all they have to say is they feared for they’re life. what about not treating Us as the enemy. The solider treat the enemy better then the police Do (Hearts and Minds) as a civilian we are more likely to be killed then a military person in combat.
Assessment if training needs in each community is needed. And, some of the requurements just might neeed ti have cituzen input.
It is hard to imagine such stringent overbearing behavior by an officer in someone’s own neighborhood.
What has gotten into our culture that officers are patrolling neighborhoods in which there is no traffic and no reason to be a troublemaker… rather than a peacekeeper. If this keeps up i would imagine a budget savings is in the works…with a reduction in staff… officer… might be a cinsideration.
If there is a quota system in this town, this would be one thing to look at and maybe relook to change and eliminate. Also,
Abrasive confronting languaging of the officer is a must. Where on earth is his humanity? Where are his manners. Why would he even dream if pulling any weapon on a person out mowing his lawn, talking with an adult friend, catching up with the news for a few moments.
Ludicrous
Why the hell is he asking her what she does outside the home? None of his business. And the whole interaction shows he is a brainwashed pu$$y!
Totally uncalled for I used to be a cop. Just ask her to move the vehicle he had nothing better to do. And if he felt that threatened by him he shouldn’t be a cop period.
Thank you for chiming in. It is good to see that there are still officers, even retired, who can see just how wrong that reaction truly was. It has become a systemic problem, as has much of this country.