Tickets, please!
The spirit of the law might be more powerful than the letter of the law.
I returned to working a patrol shift after serving three successful years as the Juvenile Division detective. While working patrol, I wanted to improve my resume so I would be competitive for assignment to the motorcycle unit. That meant writing a lot of tickets. So, I selected an area of town to patrol that would permit me to focus on traffic enforcement. My strategy… write lots of tickets and be ready to help out wherever else I might be needed in the city.
During the state’s seatbelt enforcement campaign, officers were encouraged to be on the lookout for seat belt violations. It was July 2004, I had already written some radar speeding tags when I stopped an elderly woman for not wearing her seat belt while driving.
Her name was Pat and she was very, very nice. When I told Pat that I had stopped her for not wearing her seat belt, she explained she recently had a mastectomy and that it was painful for her to wear the shoulder strap across her chest. Well, at that point, I knew I would not be issuing a citation.
I advised Pat that she could get a doctor’s note to excuse her from wearing a seat belt while she was receiving treatment following her surgery. I said to Pat… no ticket today just information. She thanked me then sighed. She told me that it had been a rough year for her and her husband, Harold. He was recovering from cancer surgery, and it was not going well. I looked down and asked Pat if I could pray for her and her husband. She said… yes. Pat moved her hand so it rested on the top edge of the driver’s door panel and leaned toward me. I placed my hand on top of hers, closed my eyes… yes, a police officer purposefully closed his eyes on a routine traffic stop… and I said a brief prayer for Pat and Harold after reciting Romans 12:12. That scripture says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
I felt something on my hand. I opened my eyes and saw a couple of tears had dropped onto the back of my hand. What a blessing! Pat thanked me and drove away. A week or so later, she sent a handwritten note to me. It read… Thank you so much for your kindness and humanity on a most difficult day. I will never forget you and be grateful that a man like you protects us in such a caring way.
My law enforcement career ended many years ago. Along the way, I collected plaques and certificates for a job well done. However, I cherish Pat’s note more than those professional accolades. Many years later, I drove by the address written on Pat’s note. I stopped and knocked on the door; a woman I did not know answered. She said she knew Pat and Harold, and that they had moved to the coast. I asked the woman at the door to say “hello” to Pat from the cop who did not give her a seat belt ticket. The woman said she would.
This story has a postscript.
About 18 years had passed since I met Pat that sunny July morning. I decided to return the favor and drop her a line thanking her for her kind words. After a little online sleuthing, I came across a likely address on the coast. I sent Pat a note and told her how much her words of thanks meant to me. My note came back stamped “Return to Sender.” I set aside my note addressed to Pat for a while.
As I was getting ready to post this story to my website, I decided to try one more time. After some more online detective work, I discovered that Pat and Harold had moved to the Midwest. Sadly, I also learned that Harold had passed away a couple of years ago. I called the funeral home listed in Harold’s obituary, and spoke to a lovely woman named Sheila. I told Sheila that I wanted to send a note to Pat, and I asked if she could help me. Sheila agreed to contact Pat and ask if it was OK for the funeral home to forward my note to her.
I got a call about an hour later from Sheila. She left a message. Pat had moved again and she was now being cared for by her sister. The sister told Sheila that Pat was struggling with some medical issues, but Pat’s sister agreed to give my note to Pat if Sheila could forward it to her.
I sent the note to Pat again. Yes, the spirit is more powerful than the letter.
Copyright © 2023 by Ray Fowler
