Love-Hate Mail
The defense rests
P.J. Tobia remarks that there are legitimate civil liberty issues resulting from increased traffic stops ("Chief Ronal Serpas' plan for a safer Nashville is to pull you over early and often," Nov. 27). This might come as a shock, but you don't have a constitutional right to drive a few miles per hour over the speed limit, drive with a busted tail light or drive with your license plate hanging on by a thread. You do, however, have a constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer if you cannot afford one, who will get the case thrown out if an officer did not have a legal reason to pull you over.
Are Officers Foster Hite and Sammy Johnson making Nashville safer? Yes. Felons with outstanding warrants drive cars just like the rest of us. And they routinely do so with stolen handguns in their center console, scales tucked under the seat and dope in their underwear. Although many traffic stops net non-violent drug arrests, most non-violent drug offenders have a rap sheet full of violent priors.
Are Sgt. Gary Kemper and the gang unit making Nashville safer? Yes. By methodically gathering intelligence on gangs and their inner workings, many in the gangs' upper echelons are toppling like dominoes as of late.
Both the DUI grant unit and the gang unit keep Nashville safe, but they do so in different ways. Fighting crime is like anything else—there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Jennifer McMillen
Assistant District Attorney, Nashville
Fish as a drunk
It's about time someone called out Serpas ("Chief Ronal Serpas' plan for a safer Nashville is to pull you over early and often," Nov. 27). Metro Police officers are being forced to throw out a wide and tightly woven net, ensnaring way too many little innocent fish while the big whales continue to bust holes right through it. Those whales, of course, are made up of two groups—underage kids who aren't even legal to drink and habitual DUI offenders with multiple convictions. While nobody has the balls to ask for a breakdown of the statistics, I'd bet the farm that 80 percent of all drunk driving fatalities are caused by those two groups alone. Meanwhile, all the rest of us who want to go out to watch a ballgame with friends or celebrate an occasion over dinner with a bottle of wine are much more prone to get caught in the net.
So, how have Nashville's citizens benefited from this new strategy? As cited by the author, violent crimes like murder and aggravated assault are significantly up since Serpas took over. And an April article in The Tennessean stated that, as of print time, DUI arrests were up nearly 40 percent, while drunk driving fatalities had only declined from 8 to 7.
Seems to me like a better solution would be to raise the legal limit to .12 and then have some serious and enforced penalties if someone is convicted. You'd stand a better chance of catching and removing those offenders who are actually causing the problem.
As our government continues to kowtow to MADD, the result is that anyone who drinks two beers in one hour is literally at the legal limit and in jeopardy of a permanent blemish on their record and reputation. What's next? Roadblocks at the end of my driveway to catch neighbors and friends leaving a summer cookout or Titans party? Serpas' agenda is complete bullshit. The officers know it, and the citizens know it. I just wish the mayor was paying attention too.
Lee
Nashville
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Many thanks to the always brilliant Jim Ridley for his insightful look into the world of Cable Access Television and the plight of Joey Bowker aka The Bat Poet (The Dark Knight's Dark Night). Joey is truly the face of CATV, not only through his unique creativity, but his incredible longevity. As a producer of two cable access television shows (Stubby's Place and 2 Guys Who Don't Know Crap About Movies) I can tell you that just putting together the minimum three shows it takes to establish your time slot in the CATV line-up is a daunting task that has felled many a potential producer. Joey has been on Channel 19 in one form or another for an astonishing twenty-odd years (and I do mean odd)! It's unfortunate - but not surprising - that more viewers were not aware of his medical condition and his comrades' mission to raise money for his mounting medical bills. Channel 19 is frequently an oddity to those flipping through the channels and usually doesn't warrant more than a few fleeting seconds from an impatient viewer brandishing a remote control. But The Bat Poet possesses the unique ability to stop them in their tracks and garner a second look. Many have likened The Bat Poet Show and it's spin-off The Slime Show to a train wreck; you just can't turn away from it and it makes you want to see what's going to happen next. Joey has never veered off track and continues to astonish and amaze with his bizarre form of entertainment. Hopefully Mr. Ridley's article will help raise awareness to Joe's continuing medical woes and to the aberration known as Community Access Television.
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