A Portland Oregon Police Officier decided on Japanese food for lunch, when he pulled his patrol car up to the Japanese Resturant there weren’t any parking places available in front of the resturant so decided he was above parking laws and parked in a “No Parking” zone which was a clearly marked loading zone.
Eric Bryant says he was sitting in the SanSai Japanese Grill on NW 21st and Hoyt on March 7 when he witnessed Officer Chad Stensgaard pull up and park his patrol car illegally, next to a “No Parking” sign.
Stensgaard walked into the restaurant wearing his police uniform, but did not make any arrests or citations. Instead, he turned his attention to the basketball game on television, according to Bryant. When Bryant asked Stensgaard about his vehicle, Stensgaard allegedly acknowledged being in a no-parking zone but asked Bryant, “If someone broke into your house, would you rather have the police be able to park in front of your house or have to park three blocks away and walk there?”
Bryant returned to his seat, and says shortly afterward he watched a restaurant employee hand the officer a plastic bag before he left. Unfortunately for Officer Stensgaard, Bryant had recently passed the Oregon bar exam, and decided to pursue the matter further.
“If he had acknowledged and corrected his error, we could have avoided this whole thing,” says Bryant. “But instead, he kept watching basketball and told me he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Now, using ORS 153.058, Bryant—as a private citizen—has initiated violation proceedings against Officer Stensgaard. Bryant alleges Stensgaard was in violation of state statutes on illegal parking, illegal stopping, obeying parking restrictions on state highways, and illegal operation of an emergency vehicle or ambulance—the violations carry fines totaling $540.
Officer Stensgaard has received a Multnomah County summons to appear in traffic court on May 23. Meanwhile Bryant denies he is just stirring up trouble.
“Citizens should be concerned that he used his status as an officer of the law as justification for breaking the law,” he says
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Blogpile Comment:
Way to go, I commend the citizen for taking action, police officiers aren’t above the law. The assistant Police Cheif said “the officier did nothing wrong because officiers are instructed to stay close to there patrol cars in case they are called to an emergencey”.
The assistant Police cheifs statements shows how police officiers interpet the laws to benefit themselves not for the good of the community. If my wife was preganent and overdue ready to give birth at any second and I went out to pick up dinner and parked in front of the resturants No Parking zone and ran inside and just at that moment a police officier pulled up to write me a ticket and I explained that I could be called away on an emergencey at any minute, he would tell me that I should have chosen a different resturant or if I’m expecting an emergencey call I should eat at home. I’m sure if I made it to court in front of a judge with that story the judge would say “we must make our decision based on staying within the law, not twist the laws to fit our decisions”. The officier should have chosen to eat lunch at a resturant that had conveinient parking or bring his lunch from home. This officier should be made an example of to teach officiers they are not above the law, its a fairly small charge for officiers to get the point.
Filed under: News, Police Blotter | Tagged: above the law, attorneys, breaking the law, chinese restaurant, citations, citizen complaints, citizen writes ticket, citizens arrest, CNN News, japanese restaurant, judge, no parking, parking fine $540, parking tickets, Police Blotter, Police officiers, Portland Oregon, Portland Police, restaurant parking, traffic laws
This reminds me sooooo much of the classic “Andy Griffith” episode “Citizen’s Arrest” where Goober charges Barney with a Citizen’s Arrest (I can still hear Goob yelling “Citizen’s Arreyest! Citizen’s Arreyest!”) for making an illegal u-turn in the middle of the steet.
I know that the cop would have ticketed me for doing the same. Classic! Huzzah for the lawyer!
I can’t imagine that anyone is going to be willing to play the devil’s advocate on this issue so I guess I’ll have to do it. More than likely, the majority of the comments here will be left by those who have some authority issues. Large or small, it doesn’t matter. Some will be left by individuals who have no such issues but refuse to entertain the idea that Police are able to do things that we are not able to do. Many people truly believe that the Police should not be able to do anything that the average citizen can’t do. The fact of the matter is that Police are able to do things that the average citizen is not able to do. A Police officer is able to drive 75 to 80 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone merely to catch up to traffic up ahead, not knowing if any violations are actually being committed. They are doing their job and looking for individuals who are speeding and otherwise driving unsafe. If they did not do this, the only cars they would see are the ones directly beside them. This is not an effictive patrol tactic. They do not do this for fun. How much fun could it be. They do not do it to get to the store a little quicker because they’re not going to the store. They simply do it as part of the job. Some people would look at this practice and complain regardless, but would also complain about the jerk that nearly runs them off the road and there’s no Police Officer around to stop it. Back to the issue at hand. Police Officers are not gauranteed any breaks in their shift. They take them when and where they can get them. A Police Officer is required to stop what he or she is doing and respond to an emergency at any given time. A Police Officer also carries weapons and other valuable equipment in their vehicle. For all of these reasons, an Officer should be within a very short response time to their vehicle. If the other individuals who left comments here today required Police assistance for an emergency, maybe life or death, they would be happy for the quicker response and almost surely blast the Police for a slow one because the Officer had to run 2 blocks back to a Patrol car. It makes sense that the Police would park in the no parking zone. It makes no sense for the average citizen to do it. And yes the average citizen should be issued a citiation for illegal parking because the circumstances are extremely different. Anyone who would argue otherwise is a fool. I think it’s rediculous that the judge ruled against the Officer in this case but he’s merely going by the letter of the law and you can’t expect anything different. The state legislators need to step in and revise the statute to deal with situations like this. Police work really is a misserable job. The longer you do it the more misserable you become. It doesn’t help that deep down, the public really does love to see an Officer get the same medicine that they, as a matter of business, are often the ones handing out. For those who attended Catholic School, it’s a bit like seeing a Nun get a ruler across the knuckles. It’s kinda sad. Everyone loves a good story when the brave Officer saves the day but they much prefer to see one go down. Had a fire truck pulled up to that restaraunt I would bet anything that Eric Bryant would have done nothing. That would not be news worthy. In fact, the public would probably come down on him for going after America’s Heros. So the next time somebody wants to criticize the Police, I recommend they walk a day in their shoes first. I guarantee they would not like it.