Talk about bad timing .

[stimpylu32]

And people wonder why some cops get a bad rap .

TWIN FALLS, Idaho - Canoeist Dennis Bohrn and his companions were stunned when they saw a woman jump off the Perrine Bridge, her body landing near them in the Snake River. Many in the group were crying by the time they managed to reach the woman and paddle her body to shore.
 
So Bohrn was shocked when an officer walked up and instead of thanking or comforting the group last Sunday, wrote out a couple of $85 tickets for failing to have life jackets on board either of the two canoes.

"The body was right there," said the 58-year-old Twin Falls resident. "A girl deputy was trying to console everybody. Then a sergeant walked up. He said, 'I see you don't have any life jackets so I am going to give you a citation.' It seemed a little cold."

Twin Falls County Sheriff Wayne Tousley said he stands by the deputy's decision, although he added, "Could it have been done at another time? He had a discretion."

Bohrn said he and his friends are still traumatized from witnessing the death. He plans to contest the citations in court.

"Maybe you get kind of cold in that job," Bohrn said. "I think there is a time and a place. They should use common sense. Maybe his superiors could tell him, 'Next time, wait until they get to the dock and the girls aren't crying.'"

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I do understand that LEOs have a job to do , BUT

stimpy

[Cement Man]

I can see the emotional issue.  I can sure feel sorry for the "rescuers" as well.  It's a rough deal.  Been there.  Worked on the rivers for 39 years.

The other side of the coin is that there would be a whole lot more crying if the canoe had upset while pushing the woman's body ashore and someone had drowned because of it.  Unlike my duck hunting boat, my canoe has no flotation so a life preserver of some type is really essential.  I lost a dear duck hunting friend to drowning.

Sometimes the timing of these things seem make a difference.  We recently fired a manager because he did not manage safety at his facility and there were some terrible incidents and near-misses.  He developed a terminal illness shortly thereafter and passed away.  Many speculated that it was so unfortunate that he was fired and then passed - so sad.  Some expressed remorse at his firing. Sure it was sad.  But it would have been a whole lot sadder if one of those near-misses wasn't a near-miss, or if we allowed him to continue to manage and someone got hurt or killed.

Life can be tough. Things maybe could have been handled a little gentler, but the cop was doing his job and maybe he saved some more real pain for someone in the future.

The guy is going to contest the citations in court?  On what grounds?

[magooch]

Well, the boaters should have had PFD's on board, but that doesn't change the fact that the officer was a prick with ears.  It reminds me of a few encounters that I have had with leos who felt it was there obligation to issue as many citations as they could, when a verbal reminder would be just as effective and would have left much greater respect and feeling all around.

[beemanbeme]

The canoes weren't launched in the "heat of the moment" to rescue the woman but rather had been afloat for quite some time without the proper gear.  Perhaps the guys timing sucked but he has a job to do.  And maybe, since this is getting some high profile attention, the next bunch will have their proper gear "because of the prick" downstream.

[stimpylu32]

Not saying the cop did anything wrong other that using bad judgement in his timing , but with this getting the press that it is , he will come off like an axx and that is just the kind of excuse some will use to balnket all LEO's

I have lots of LE in the family , from local to state to fed and i was an MP so i do understand the rep that 1 or 2 can bring to all .

stimpy