12-29-2012, 04:36 PM
I am with an agency in Dade and recently had a very good friend relay this encounter to me. I am curious to get feedback as I am aware that there are two sides to a story.
My friend and her mother are in her car just before Christmas looking for a parking spot at Sawgrass Mills where there are virtually no spots available in the area near Cheesecake Factory. A man signals that he is walking to his car so that they can take his spot ... she follows. As he is getting into her car, she notices an SUV behind her with a loud horn (sounds like it might have been an air horn but she thinks it is some jackass with one of those loud train type horns). Suddenly, a uniformed older male officer with an Irish Brogue comes out and begins to yell and scream at her that she doesn't own the mall and wants to know who she thinks she is. She explains that she was merely waiting for the parking spot and the officer continues to yell at her and her mother in a very hostile tone. She says to him "Sir, it's Christmas time, why are you so filled with anger and hostility?" That comments torques him up a notch and he now threatens to write her for obstructing traffic and makes her leave the area, giving up the spot. With 27 years of law enforcement experience and the vast majority of that time handling significant traffic enforcement, I know that it is pure BS about writing a civil infraction on private property. Other than this officer threatening to take action which is he not allowed to do, I am curious from Sunrise officers if this sounds typical of this officer, curious if he was just having a bad day, or do you think that there is no way he would do this and that there must be more to the story?
My friend and her mother are in her car just before Christmas looking for a parking spot at Sawgrass Mills where there are virtually no spots available in the area near Cheesecake Factory. A man signals that he is walking to his car so that they can take his spot ... she follows. As he is getting into her car, she notices an SUV behind her with a loud horn (sounds like it might have been an air horn but she thinks it is some jackass with one of those loud train type horns). Suddenly, a uniformed older male officer with an Irish Brogue comes out and begins to yell and scream at her that she doesn't own the mall and wants to know who she thinks she is. She explains that she was merely waiting for the parking spot and the officer continues to yell at her and her mother in a very hostile tone. She says to him "Sir, it's Christmas time, why are you so filled with anger and hostility?" That comments torques him up a notch and he now threatens to write her for obstructing traffic and makes her leave the area, giving up the spot. With 27 years of law enforcement experience and the vast majority of that time handling significant traffic enforcement, I know that it is pure BS about writing a civil infraction on private property. Other than this officer threatening to take action which is he not allowed to do, I am curious from Sunrise officers if this sounds typical of this officer, curious if he was just having a bad day, or do you think that there is no way he would do this and that there must be more to the story?