Laws Can't Be People

The continued inability of police and Springfield government agencies to address the astounding number of copper thefts has been on my mind lately.  I’ve been reading a book called “The Death of Common Sense” by Phillip K. Howard about how laws and process are taking away citizens rights to make good decisions.  A recent experience with a Springfield parking patrol strikes me as an interesting coincidence.  Let’s see if you agree with me about whether they have anything to do with each other.

I pulled up to the Capital Street side of Grace Lutheran Church to load my van with totes from a week long day camp.  The totes were just inside the door where I had left them to go get my van.  While directing the camp, I had seen at least 40 different cars and trucks pull into this area, so I considered it a loading zone.  As I ran around to the back of the minivan, telling my 2 kids to sit tight, a parking enforcement woman walked up and informed me that I was in a No Parking Zone.

It was clearly marked as such, so I could not deny her claim, but I stated that I was simply loading some totes and would be on my way.  She explained that it was not a loading zone, but a no parking zone.  I told her I wasn’t really parking, just loading. She asked if my van was in park. Being a wise guy, I told her it was in neutral, but the futility of the situation was evident. I got the point.  Meanwhile, a good friend of mine who had helped at the camp pulled up behind me to perform similar loading tasks.

She was also informed by the meter reader that it was a No Parking Zone.  My friend also stated that she was not parking, but loading.  As she began to walk towards the door after stating her purpose, I stopped her.  “Pam, this woman will give you a ticket if you walk away from your vehicle.”  I told her.  The woman confirmed this.  So I asked if we could park in the ally about 20 feet away.  The parking lady said sure.  We moved our cars and that was simple enough.  Another friend was going to get her van as this was going on.  She walked to her van and simply parked in the no parking zone to load. The meter reader had walked around the corner, so it was once again a free country.

BUT, when I was just finishing up my loading in the alley, here comes a FedEx truck behind me.  As he waits, half in the street, I quickly jumped in my van to get out of the way.  I had to drive around for three blocks to get back to the no parking area.  Because the meter reader was out of site, I pulled into the no parking zone with impunity just as 40 vehicles had done throughout the week.  I leisurely finished saying good bye to the good people who had worked so hard to make our camp happen.  I had moved from a spot where I was in no one’s way to an alley where I slowed down a delivery.  When the authority was not present, people parked where they were not supposed to with no ill effect.  No harm, no foul.

My point with all this is the same one Phillip K. Howard makes in his book.  Laws smother the decision making process by trying to make rules and procedures for every contingency.  Now back to copper thefts in Springfield.  When police arrived on the scene after one of our neighbors called them to report that copper thieves were IN our rental house, the police could not go in.  Without the owner present, they were not allowed to enter the premise.  What is befuddling to me is if they were doing a drug raid, they could bash the door in and sack the place looking for needles, but when a neighbor says there are criminals inside actively stealing the police aren’t allowed to enter due to ownership rights and due process.

People responsible for protecting us and catching criminals are afraid that someone will use the system against them as they have many times in the past.  Upset citizens can easily complain to a government agency about some police action and the police involved have to suffer through hours and hours of scrutiny just to be proven innocent.  While I appreciate checks and balances, various agencies can be manipulated by vindictive people into personal tools for harassment.  I pay taxes to make it possible, but I have no control over what actually takes place.  Meanwhile, legitimate tasks are neglected because individuals may be held accountable for a lack of process whether they are succeeding at their office’s goals or not.  I think that these two experiences have very much in common.  We tie the hands of those who are on the scene, yet empower those with petty grievances.  The system will someday collapse under the weight of rules for every contingency.  The human spirit of rationality will suffer until it does.  During this time, we have to put up with it as best we can.  Fin.