Sometimes the good guys win

I wish to apologize to the city of Palmer. As much as I love Palmer (I really do), I've been harboring some dark thoughts about city government lately. I was pleasantly surprised last week, and it was a good lesson about the need to keep an open mind.

About a year ago I lost a headlight driving home from Anchorage one night. So I swung into the parts store, picked up a new bulb and tried in vain to install it in the dark in the driveway one cold winter evening. No dice. So my oldest son volunteered to take the vehicle into auto shop the next morning and fix it there. But on the way to school the next morning Palmer police stopped him for the missing headlight. Although he explaining to the officer what had happened and that the new headlight and receipt were sitting on the seat next to him, he got a ticket anyway, and not a fix-it ticket either. I grumbled about that for a long time.

I've never been the type to get upset at the police for catching me screwing up. Sure, I get mad, but in the end I can't blame anybody but myself if I speed, park in front of fire hydrant, etc. The officer is just doing his job, and to be honest, the way I see some people drive I'm glad the police are there to occasionally nail the crazy ones.

But when is intent examined? Sometimes people do make honest, innocent mistakes. Maybe the guy with a burned-out headlight, missing mud-flap or some other equipment failure clearly realizes he has a problem and is taking immediate steps to fix it? I thought that's where the whole fix-it ticket comes into play. Sometimes an officer might even stop you to make sure you are aware of such a problem, and I like that.

So when my son got nailed for that missing headlight, I encouraged him to fight it in traffic court. After all, it was my car he was driving and I felt guilty he had received his first - and only - ticket while helping me.

But when we went to court it was a no-go. The judge said that while he understood, the fact is my son was driving a car with a burnt out headlight and that was that. Reduced fine and off we went. Thus began my downward-spiraling attitude regarding law enforcement.

Fast-forward to just before last New Year's. Around 3 p.m., I left the Palmer Post Office parking lot. As is my habit, I had turned off the headlights while parked. Didn't matter that it was still daylight. Like I said, it's a habit born from courtesy. A few blocks from the post office I was pulled over by police. When asked if I knew why I was being pulled over, I replied honestly that I had absolutely no idea. He then pointed out that I only had my parking lights on (yes, I did know it is illegal to drive with only your parking lights and it doesn't matter if it's day or night). I realized my dumb mistake, turned on my headlights, explained that I had just left the post office (the mail was sitting on my visor) and got a ticket anyway.

Additionally, I found out my license had been suspended because I didn't change the address on my driver's license when I moved. I was cited, immediately switched seats with my wife and proceeded with my very bad afternoon. Didn't take more than a day to get the driver's license thing fixed, but that parking light ticket was really sticking in my craw. In fact, I wrote a column about it that was so full of sarcasm that this paper declined to print it. So I contested that as well and prepared for another day in court.

As the day drew closer I became more and more gloomy about it. I griped to co-workers and family, I assumed the worst and was all-but-certain that it was going to be a waste of time that would just make me madder. So when the big day came to contest the parking lights ticket I trudged into the courthouse prepared to pointedly, but politely, let the judge know what I thought about how traffic laws were enforced in my city. After taking a seat I noticed that the officer who wrote the tickets was there, too.

Oh great.

Then something rather unexpected happened. As we were waiting for the judge to come in, the officer rather sincerely asked me if I had got the suspended license thing straightened out. I told him I had and it was obvious he had no problem believing that it was an honest mistake and I wasn't really driving around knowing it had been suspended. No "I'm going to get you" approach to law enforcement that I have noticed in other places I've lived. After the judge entered and we were called forward, the officer held the door for me. He stated why he had pulled me over, making sure to mention that it was in the afternoon and still daylight (approaching twilight) and was all-in-all very objective and courteous. The judge took the time to research the online owners-manual for my car in order to determine that the parking lights are ALWAYS activated so long as the car is running. He then pushed his decision to the following morning when I was scheduled to come back and discuss the suspended license issue. When I arrived the next morning, he quickly dismissed the suspended license thing and the parking light ticket as well.

Am I writing this column because I'm happy those tickets were dismissed? Of course, but that's not what prompted my sense of appreciation. The courtesy the officer showed in court, the objectivity, effort and reason the judge demonstrated in looking at what happened restored my faith in law enforcement and the justice system. It countered my negative assumptions about law enforcement in my city. As for that burned out headlight thing that happened a few years back? I guess I'll chalk that up to a single bad experience and not a big-picture view.

Ben Compton is a Palmer resident and publishes his column under the tagline "Compton's Corner," the same title used by his grandmother, Phyllis Compton, a longtime Frontiersman columnist.