No room for double standards

The recent tragedy in which a Clovis police officer seems to have run a stop sign and caused an accident that killed a woman illustrates the difference between the way statists and libertarians see things.

Make no mistake: I don’t believe for an instant the officer wanted to cause the accident. (Hence the word “accident.”) I firmly believe he would do absolutely anything to be able to rewind time and avoid killing the woman were such a thing possible.

However, what is done is done and can never be undone. Accidents are a part of life and will continue to happen no matter what “laws” are passed or how careful you try to be.

How you respond to an accident once it occurs shows what kind of person you are.

All I expect in a situation such as this is that the officer be treated exactly the same as any other person involved in the same circumstance, or that from now on all non-police be treated exactly as this officer has been.

No double standards.

If the officer is to be given the benefit of the doubt, which I think he should be, I expect the same the next time anyone is involved in a traffic accident that kills a police officer.

I expect sobriety tests to take the same amount of time to perform and analyze. Apparently that can happen quickly. In an Oct. 20 Curry County accident that critically injured two men, a driver was immediately arrested and charged with “driving under the influence and two counts of causing great bodily injury by a motor vehicle.”

I expect police officers’ supporters to be quick to point out that we should all hold off judgment until all the facts are in, just as they did in the online comments posted to the Clovis News Journal article about this accident.

I expect the investigation to take a long time to conclude, and I wonder why the driver’s family or friends cannot control the investigation of the accident, as Clovis police are investigating this case. Isn’t it a conflict of interest to allow the police to investigate the police, just as it would be if only the dead woman’s family were allowed to conduct the investigation of this accident?

My main point is this: Employees of the state are not an elite class. They should not receive any special treatment.