By RON GOWER

TNEDITOR@TNONLINE.COM

Recently I heard a call on the police scanner that had me a little annoyed. A caller at an apartment complex complained that someone was parked in a handicapped space.

The police officer on duty in that town responded to the dispatcher that the complex was “private property” and the caller should complain to the owner.

My first instinct is to question why we shouldn’t just eliminate laws that aren’t enforced, such as handicapped parking spaces and fire lanes.

At many stores and malls, people use the fire lanes or have no handicapped placards on their vehicles and do so with immunity. Even at high school sporting events, few schools enforce the handicapped parking regulations.

Not only are these violations on private property, but obviously police are busy with more pressing calls than to check on such “minor” infractions. Store owners aren’t going to anger their customers by getting tough with parking. In the case of the apartment complex, it’s not always easy getting in touch with the owner, who might be out of state. And would the owner even know what to do about the situation?

The police who didn’t respond might have angered the complainer and, just like I was not happy about the police officer’s response, putting yourself in the place of the officer might have you rethinking the matter.

It’s tough being a police officer. The demands of officers continue to increase not only regarding the calls they receive, but the type of knowledge they’re expected to have.

In many cities, police have specialties including detective, accident reconstruction, traffic cops, etc. In small towns like in our area, an officer on duty is expected to be skilled at handling traffic stops, domestic turmoil, custody disputes, identity theft, drug trafficking calls, burglary investigations, lift assists (when someone falls at home but doesn’t need an ambulance), etc. Calls about illegal parking occur, too.

While general responses might be acceptable, the police officer also must be somewhat knowledgeable of the applicable laws to assure that any arrests can be prosecuted. Even then, the police officer could find frustration when it comes to the court system.

A perfect example was a hearing I covered where someone was taken into custody in Lansford a few years ago and became violent in the holding cell to the point of spitting on the officer and swinging at him. The officer wasn’t seriously injured. When the officer testified to the defendant’s disrespectful actions, the defending lawyer said to him to “put his big boy pants on”; that such reaction is part of his job.

Nobody knows better than Jonathan Roselle of Parryville how difficult it is being a police officer.

In 2018, Roselle was a police officer in the Lehigh Valley. A rookie, he was called to the area of Dorney Park where a huge man was out of control and threatening motorists.

Roselle ordered the man to stop his actions. He refused. Roselle, fearing not only for the lives of innocent bystanders but his own life, shot and killed the man.

He was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Vindication came on March 20, 2020, when he was acquitted.

However, he had to defend himself. The township didn’t pay for his defense. The police union, of which he still wasn’t a member, distanced itself from his action.

We can’t imagine what his legal bills are.

It’s not easy being a police officer today, especially in a small town.

Lawmakers are demanding more and more training of police. As an example, there is a push to require police to have more training on handling mental health issues.

While more is being asked of the police, they are still required to take care of the lazy individuals who choose to park in fire lanes and handicapped parking spaces as well as calls of domestic violence and vehicles driving erratically. They also must make time for court appearances, which could mean being tied up for days.

Gone are the days of the Barney Fife patrols. Maybe today’s law enforcement is too complex for a small-town police department which has one or two officers on duty at a time and which is too busy to look at parking violations.

Is a countywide police department on the horizon?