I recently enjoyed reading Duane Wolfe’s article “5 statements cops should never make on duty.” I would like to add a sixth statement, which is a pet peeve of mine as a 25 year police officer myself.
It is: “You have a warrant. Go to the court house and take care of it.”
I understand some officers say this because the warrant cannot be acted on by them (for numerous reasons). Sometimes, it’s because they are too lazy (like near the end of their shift). However, what bothers me most is it creates a future officer safety issue for others.
The next time an officer deals with this suspect, the suspect has knowledge that he has a warrant and the officer does not. The suspect may fight or run, not realizing how trivial the warrant may be. So an officer gets hurt or may end up using more force than necessary (including vehicle pursuits) for something trivial. All because some officer told the suspect this.
Ofc. Robert Halverson, Chula Vista P.D. (San Diego County), California