New REDDI policy may spell trouble

In an attempt to be ever ready to deal with potential liabilities, Wasilla may have missed the mark with its newly drafted REDDI policy.

REDDI, or Report Every Dangerous Driver Immediately, reports are a valuable and useful tool that aids Valley and state law enforcement immensely. Used properly, REDDI reports make our highways and roadways safer and help law enforcement identify potentially deadly drivers before an accident or fatality happens.

We encourage the practice and are proud that every person on the road can potentially help save the lives of others.

But a new REDDI policy instituted by Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright could hamper more than help law enforcement officials and dispatch operators. The new policy says that dispatchers who receive these REDDI reports must, in addition to dispatching the proper jurisdiction to respond, check to see if the motorist being reported is on a list of Wasilla city employees. If he or she is, then Wasilla police are also to be dispatched to the call, whether or not it’s in the city’s jurisdiction.

Rupright defends the policy as necessary “to protect the finances and the integrity of the city of Wasilla.”

He goes on to say the city should investigate every REDDI call involving a city employee “because we don’t want it to look like the Wasilla Police Department is hiding anything.”

Well, intentioned or not, this policy could have the opposite effect, leading the public to question whether or not the city is trying to hide something.

Anyone, Wasilla city employee or not, stopped on a REDDI call should receive the same treatment. But making sure city police are spending time responding to stops in other jurisdictions not only takes police off our city streets, but gives the appearance that a Wasilla employee gets special treatment in the handling of his or her report.

We’re not the only ones who think this policy sounds less than ready for prime time. Spokespersons for both the Fairbanks and Anchorage police departments called it strange. And when contacted by the Frontiersman, the Alaska State Troopers said they were not aware of the policy, which makes us wonder what the city expects to happen when a Wasilla officer shows up out of his or her jurisdiction and walks up on an AST trooper or Palmer police officer. Will those responders feel some kind of blue loyalty to let Wasilla handle it?

But why put law enforcement officers in that situation in the first place?

“It does seem complex and unnecessary,” said Fairbanks Police Chief Laren Zager. “I would have to be more convinced of it to support it.”

So would we.

While we appreciate the sentiment behind Rupright’s new policy in holding city employees accountable and the mayor’s eye toward risk management, we still think everyone should be treated the same in the eyes of the law.

This should be a concern for the mayor as well. Having a Wasilla police officer potentially in charge of investigating a REDDI report over a person who may control his or her career isn’t a good situation regardless of who well intentioned the policy might be.

What happens if the police chief or other high-ranking officer is the subject of a REDDI report? With other departments, it’s standard policy to call in another agency to investigate.

In the end, the same standard should hold for city employees, especially for those who control the purse strings or wield the power to terminate.