Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The letter we wrote to our local police department- with all of the identifying stuff removed.

June 2, 2008



To Whom It May Concern:

On May 30th my daughter was one of the graduates at the High School graduation ceremony held at the local Arena at nine o’clock in the morning. As I am sure you are well aware, the crowd was quite large and there was considerable traffic. My family came in separate vehicles with my wife driving one vehicle. While she left with enough time, she poorly anticipated the traffic and did not get to the doors before nine, at which time the doors were locked. My wife, three of our children, one of whom is 2 ½, my nephew, and mother-in-law waited outside for the doors to open. Because she pulled up and let the older children out of the car while she went to park, the children were right at the doors when they reopened. My son, Michael who is 13, and nephew, Tyler who is 17, were allowed in and the doors were locked shortly after that for a second time. This time my wife, her mother, and our toddler were still left outside. Because we were not told that the doors would most likely be reopened my son was concerned that his mother would not get to see our daughter graduate so he and my nephew offered to trade places with my wife and mother-in-law. My wife had been holding the baby for almost a half hour and she instinctively handed her over to my son as they switched places at the door. When I approached and asked for the baby, Officer John would not allow her to come in because my wife handed her over to our son. I think it is important to note here that my wife had major surgery six weeks earlier and had been standing in the sun, as mentioned before, and had been holding the baby almost the entire time. When I asked the officer why the 2 ½ year old couldn’t come in, he said it was because my wife had handed her over to our son! The baby was screaming and kicking for her mother at that moment. If that had been the only lack of judgment your officer used that morning that alone would be enough for any normal person to be furious. I can not imagine what was going on in his mind, but there is nothing that can convince me that lack of compassion is standard police procedure! Fortunately, my mother-in-law had not traded places with my nephew yet so she was able to bring the child in.
Tyler and Michael waited patiently with the rest of the people hoping the doors would again be reopened. When they were, one hundred people were allowed in, including Michael and Tyler. When they passed Officer John, he literally grabbed them by the shirts and shoved them out the doors telling them that they traded places and could not reenter. When I asked him why, I was told that reentry was not allowed. We were not told ahead of time that reentry would not be allowed, but if we
had, Michael and Tyler still did the right thing. Michael stood outside of the Arena crying, not able to understand why he could not reenter the building. I am incensed that my son and nephew were treated this way. The only contact my son has ever had with a police officer has been with his School Resource Officer through DARE at his former Elementary School and this incident. My wife and I have raised our children to consider the police as good guys and treat them with respect. While that is not going to change, it is difficult to explain to him how it is that a “good guy” would treat him this way, especially considering that his “offense” was trading places with his mother, likewise, Tyler’s offense was trading places with his grandmother. Maybe we should be grateful that Officer John allowed me to hand the boys some money so that they could “hang out” at the Circle K during the ceremony. Hmmm, I can not be the only person who finds it disappointing that an officer would rather see two teens hanging out than allow them to reenter the building to observe a graduation ceremony. I must mention that at this point there was not even one single person left standing outside, but reentry still was not allowed!
The very least that I expect from this letter is an apology to Michael and Tyler for being treated so poorly, but what I really want is a change in policy that allows the use of common sense. In a world where children beat each other up and post the video on the internet, children who still trade places with their elders should be held up as examples, not treated like criminals. These were not two boys who wished to go off and do their own thing instead of being with their families. They wanted to be inside. This was a graduation ceremony, not a concert, a bar, a fair where there was an admittance fee- a free ceremony, open to the public. I hope that you are as outraged as me at this situation. If someone had grabbed the officer in the manner that he grabbed these teens, the outcome would have been much different. A little mutual respect goes a long way.


cc: Principal of the High School

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