Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I recently was driving down I-20 East when a state trooper passed me. No lights. No sirens.

I pulled in behind him, as I have done on four separate occasions, and got the car number and approximate speed of 80 to 85 miles per hour. The trooper, in car number F-76, also stayed in the passing lane the entire time from Millhaven to the Rayville exit.

This is where he promptly went to the Chevron for, I assume, a free coke. I used to work there. I know how it works.

Now, as shocking and irritating as this is, it is not the end.

I called Troop F on *LSP and spoke with a dispatcher. I explained everything and was told he was on call to help the wreck in Ruston. Wrong way!

Then, I was told he was on a call in Rayville. If so, why stop at the convenience store?

I asked to speak with someone in charge and I got some trooper I later found out didn’t know anything. The sergeant asked twice if I would want an officer to speed to help my family. This has nothing to do with anything. He went to the store!

I was promptly hung up upon.

I called back and was told they explained it to me and was hung up on again!

I then drove to the Troop F station where I spoke to the same trooper as on the phone. He then told me there was no F-76 car, so I was lying and then told me to hush up and sit down. I refused and then the trooper from the phone call said he would put me in handcuffs if I didn’t shut up and sit down. I refused again and then the sergeant told him to shut up and go in the back.

Now, I’m the criminal because I told on a cop. Who’s policing the police? The citizens!

I explained to the sergeant the situation and, of course, I am wrong. The trooper was just performing his duty. Also, I was told that they can speed, run red lights, stop signs, no turning signals and whatever else because they’re cops. I was told the officer wouldn’t get a ticket or reprimand because the cops didn’t see it and my word couldn’t be taken as truth.

The sergeant even told me if I had video of an officer breaking the law, it wouldn’t matter because you can fake and edit anything these days. You mean any video not taken by a cop’s car? Only theirs is right?

Finally, I was told to wait and the troop commander came in. We spoke and the man was very cordial and informative. The only thing I did get from hi was that the state police don’t have assigned places to patrol, only regions. I was told the Troop F region is 12 parishes.

Well, how does that work? Do the troopers just get in their cars and just go? This, if true, is a waste of resources, time and money for us taxpayers. If you can’t run a troop of men and women any better than this, the state troopers should be disbanded.

They were designed to be the governor’s personal body guard and look at them now. Feeling above the law, doing what they want and doing nothing but harassing truck drivers and people going back and forth to work or play.

In times of financial strain, we need to cut the fat. The state troopers are the fat! Those resources could be better used by local police or deputies who answer to police chiefs or sheriffs who we elect. We can vote for or against sheriff’s and police chiefs but there is no accountability for state troopers. The can run roughshod over the state when there are no checks and balances in place for the citizens.

Who helps you when you are in need? The sheriff’s department, city police or state troopers?

Please, we must be vigilant in not letting the police get away with what we can’t. We are a nation of laws, not of men.

By the way, have you noticed the Black, Blue, Black stickers on the back of some vehicles. Those are cops, friends of cops or family members of cops. Can we all be treated equally?

We need a group of regular people who will film the officers breaking the law and send them to the News-Star or the Richland Beacon-News. We will have to make the public aware and the officers should fear and respect their employers, no the other way around.

Thank you,
Nathan Stanley
Rayville