Never losing care

And its remarkable, arguably a miracle, that they don’t lose this caring attitude. “The saying goes we deal with five percent of the population that creates ninety-five percent of the problems,”  affirmed Officer Larson. In Cannon Falls that means Officer Larson knows most of the trouble makers by name. Dealing with the same people over and over again in a small town would drive me crazy. “You have to keep your head level. If you get fed up with a case it will make you cynical.” After Larson said this, he told me a story about a man who was bouncing checks. Not just any checks, but a ninety year old’s check that he then claimed to be his own. He bounced checks in Cannon Falls, Red Wing, and even Prescott, Wisconsin. Once they finally caught the guy the District Attorney didn’t think there was enough to prosecute. While the legal system helps police get warrants and chase criminals, at time it can be a hurdle to justice.

Larson brought up an analogy of ticketing a woman $150. She continues her wrong doing, and he continues to ticket her. Finally he reaches the tenth ticket, and now she owes $1,500 to the state, However, if the judge chooses, he can nullify nine of them and tell her that she only has to pay one.. Cops go out everyday to protect the community, and the people they catch may never face jail time or get what they deserve.

“It’s just the way it is, and you can be mad about it that day, but you just can’t let it consume you.” Larson’s words of wisdom were right, for we live in a government like no other on the planet. We would rather inhibit our police than give them free reign on our information. We would rather have the oppressor run free then put the innocent behind bars. Everyone knew that the man was responsible for bouncing checks – but there wasn’t enough to persecute. She deserves much more punishment than just a $150 dollar fine, but there’s nothing that can be done once the judge reaches his verdict. The way cops look at it is in a saying, ‘They have to be perfect, we only have to be right once to catch them.” Indeed, time is on the side of the police, and in time justice will always prevail over evil and injustice.