Pro/Con: Is Administrative Leave Such a Good Idea

Pro: Paid leave is a necessary thing

BILL GAMBLIN 

Mat, the recent haircut you got must have gotten a little too close to your feeble brain. Now you are griping about officers being placed on administrative leave while a shooting in which they were involved is investigated.

A paid administrative leave is a necessary thing following any unfortunate incident such as the one that occurred Sunday on Tamarind Drive.

Despite all the testing and screenings law enforcement officers go through to keep their certifications, the events they face change daily.

Of course your wet-behind-the-ears Strawberry Shortcake attitude has not learned this. The worse thing that has happened to you was being  jilted by a girlfriend. Life gets rough as you grow older, Mat.

Those of us with hash marks on our backsides know.

Yes, we have also seen good cops go bad. And we know good cops sometimes must take drastic action. Whenever a life is taken, there MUST be an investigation to determine which of the previous two conditions occurred.

As a county and society we do not need someone who cannot hit the broad side of a barn with a bass fiddle carrying a 9mm or 45 caliber gun in an effort to protect the people.

Mat, you wouldn’t know this, but we have been fortunate in Santa Rosa. We simply haven’t had that many shootings.

The saddest part is, sometimes, it is hard for an officer to come back from an incident like this because of the self-doubt that begins to creep in. Face it, any normal person would not enjoy a job that sometimes requires the taking of a life. Such shootings can permanently affect a police officer: another reason why the even must be investigated before returning the firearm to the officer.

It is no different than my friends who hunted with me in Kentucky.

They were so happy to get their first deer or duck, but then they never went into the woods again and ended up giving their bagged quarry away.

When someone pulls the trigger of a gun there is often another trigger pulled.

This is one reason why they administrative leave.

I want to live in a safe Santa Rosa County and if it takes a couple of days to do something then, so be it.

As a citizen I can rest much better knowing the deputies do their jobs.

You know, for someone who wants such a rosey world, you sure have some silly ideas.

Working as a law enforcement officer is as stressful as serving overseas with the military.

Mat, while you might object and seem so nonchalant about this program, I doubt if you would ever have the guts to do what these outstanding men and women do every single day.

Con: “Leaving” is not an option

MATHEW PELLEGRINO

Bill, there are some things you may not realize are unsafe for you.  ‘Having someone shoot at you’ is a good example.

What the officers did under those circumstances was perfectly acceptable.

I may not be an expert, and I’ll never be a police officer, but I did speak with the alleged shooter’s neighbor. I learned firsthand that the suspect, later identified as Mark Walker, had had the police call on him in the past. 

I’m not saying he’s crazy, but if someone were shooting at me, I know I would fire back.

Although the case is pending, it makes no sense to put an officer on administrative leave after it was evident there were shots fired from inside that trailer on Tamarind Drive.

Bill, even that deputy who was once charged with 120 counts of sexual battery kept a job with the county until he was removed months later. 

Faith Salter, Walker’s neighbor, said several rounds came spewing out of the man’s shotgun when she was attempting to retrieve her neighbor’s phone number from the officer.  The officer who responded to the location did the right thing, he put her out of harm’s way, telling her to get out of her house and drive to the end of the street.

Bill, if that had been you, would you have grabbed a six-pack, and some Doritos to take with you while you waited on an update? Of course not!

At least three people on that street say they vouch for the officers.  Those three people are Mrs. Salter, her sister-in-law and her brother-in-law.

All five of these deputies were dispatched into harm’s way. Why should they now be placed on leave? Do you know how many doctors have prescribed the wrong treatment, how many mechanics have mis-diagnosed an auto repair?  Should they all  be placed on administrative leave?

Yes, the officers are being paid, but at least throw them behind a desk and a stack of paperwork so they can do “something” for the money they are drawing.

Lawmen are paid to protect the citizens of this county.  Sometimes, the job requires shots to be fired. We may not yet know all the facts of this event, but we do know other people’s lives were in jeopardy.

And if you’re telling me these officers can’t aim a gun, then you’re telling me my fresh out-of-college attitude didn’t get me this job.  Or that all the knowledge I obtained while in college was useless.

If I was told to stay at home because I was doing my job, there would be no point in me having a job to begin with.

These officers were risking their own lives to protect the people in that neighborhood.

I’m sure if you were placed in that type of situation Bill, you would have done the same thing.

It’s like telling our military to run away from the enemy during a battle.  They are paid to defend our freedoms and country, just as these officer’s are paid to protect our citizens.