SCOFFLAW…ARE YOU KIDDING

FRAZER CHRONICLE

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

I read an article in my local newspaper, the Green Bay Press Gazette penned by Keegan Kyle about how state policing agencies do not always register all of their chases…(a Wisconsin State law dictates that this be done) and they do not register civilian injuries or deaths. Aha…paperwork is burying law enforcement and what would you rather have your local, county and state law enforcement doing, patrolling the streets for violators, or filling out reports?

 

The thing that got me was a word that appeared in Keegan Kyle’s article’s first paragraph was the use of the word “Scofflaw,” now I’d like to tell you that I know what scofflaw means…and that I use the word during the course of a conversation…but I can’t, in fact I never even heard of the word until I read Kyle’s article.

 

My point here is simple...the word, simple is exactly what I am talking about…”keep it simple stupid.”  I wrote about 10,000 words a week during the course of my responsibilities with a small Midwestern newspaper, and I use all sorts of verbiage…and like my wife, who proof-reads all of my prose says “Don’t be so wordy.”

 

She of course is right, and in this instance…”Keegan Kyle” got way overboard in her first paragraph…scofflaw, wow. The word has been around only since the middle 1920’s and was first used during the prohibition era, and meant a person who drinks illegally. Over time the word grew, “In some quarters” and today includes “One who flouts any law, especially those laws which are difficult to enforce, and particularly traffic laws.”

 

The word, scofflaw, was the winning entry of a nationwide competition sponsored by the Boston Herald in 1924. The word was submitted by two separate entrants, Henry Irving Dale, and Kate L. Butler who split the $200 prize equally. The word scofflaw was deemed the best and most suitable out of 25,000 entries.

 

Again I reiterate, as writers we have a responsibility to make the reporting of the news as easy to read and follow as possible…and if we can add a bit of humor, so much the better. In many instances the news that is reported is drab, filled with hard cold fact, and the reader can be distracted almost for no reason.

 

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

I am a big proponent of understanding that our elected officials, law-makers, and law enforcement officials aren’t any better than we, the general population is. We all have a tough time with daily temptations, shortcuts that aren’t really prescribed in the workplace, and at times we are all just plain lazy…(it’s a burn-out thing).

 

However in the United States today, there is one issue that touches us all, and that issue is how our law enforcement has moved several levels out of the control of the public. “Oh what’s that…you forgot that law enforcement, the law-makers, and our elected officials actually work for us,” well it’s true, and unless we stand and voice our dissent as a single body, that ability to control some of the shenanigans that goes on every day will be lost.

 

Cops are not above the law; they need to be diligent in following the rules and regulations that are laid out for all of us to follow. Law enforcement needs to understand that if we don’t all follow the laws of the land, the country in affect becomes lawless. After all, we are a nation of laws, but the execution of these laws throughout the United States on a daily basis is becoming a sad joke.

 

Not filling out required reports is just the tip of the iceberg, especially reports where injury or death might occur. When a cop doesn’t do his job, several things can happen, not the least of which might be death or injury. And I don’t know about you, but if one of my family members was treated shoddily I would be the first in line at an attorney’s office.

 

Here in Wisconsin, between 2002 and 2013 there was an astounding 13,800 police chase’s that were registered, and it’s estimated that there were more, like thousands more. I used to drive a semi over the road, and I saw civilian-police chases, they’re dangerous. I never saw the eventual completion of a chase, but I have seen times when cops had stopped a perpetrator, and had them spread eagle on the ground, and I always wonder…”was that necessary.”

 

When we read about police shortcomings or frailties we need to call them out, we need to let them know for certain that they (cops) are not above the law. And when they are caught with their hand in the “cookie jar,” we need to act swiftly, and fairly, after all we really are under the same laws. And we just need to report the news in an easier format., and language that we can all understand without looking up the word.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!