Since the 1960's lawmakers have been protected by the law from being cited, detained, or in some cases arrested during a legislative session. According to a KXAN story by Austin's Jenny Hoff, this apparently includes ticketing people who are driving with a lawmaker in the car.
A DPS sergeant is being verbally reprimanded and may have to be "counseled" after he ticketed a driver for speeding - because the passenger was a state senator.
The facts, according to the KXAN story seem clear and basic on their face.
It was a routine traffic stop around 4 p.m. on Friday, March 27th. A DPS sergeant saw a car speeding 12 miles over the limit, issued the woman a ticket and headed back to work.
The only problem was the woman he cited was the wife of Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, and the passenger in her car was the senator himself.
Ogden didn't ask for a reprieve for his wife, and the sergeant apparently went back to his superiors and told them about the citation him.
But even though there was no complaint, the sergeant, a 13-year veteran of the agency, was verbally reprimanded and schooled on the law by his superiors, according to sources within the DPS.
The Senator says he didn't complain. He says he didn't mention the law and he even says he believes lawmakers should receive tickets for speeding.
The question then is, how did the DPS know to reprimand the officer for that ticket if Ogden never tipped them off?
Ogden has a history of hostility with the Department of Public Safety.
Though sources said he did not complain about the incident, Sen. Ogden might be one of the last lawmakers troopers would want to agitate. In 2007, Ogden passed a law that requires each law enforcement agency adopt physical fitness standards that a law enforcement officer must meet to continue employment with the agency. According to DPS agency insiders, this came after Ogden noticed one of the troopers was out of shape.
State Senator Ogden isn't alone in his feelings towards law enforcement. Republican Governor Rick Perry has been a similar situation before, but his feeling were well known at the scene.
This is not the first case a trooper has received verbal reprimand for citing a lawmaker and/or failing to recognize the politician during the traffic stop. In 2000, Perry was caught on videotape taken by a trooper's mounted camera after his driver was stopped for speeding. The video camera captured an agitated Perry urging the officer to "let us get on down the road."
According to her colleagues, the trooper who stopped Perry was later berated by her superiors for not recognizing the lawmaker.
There have been no comments from the DPS officials. However, KXAN seems to be suggesting in there article that Perry has a track record of being openly hostile with DPS. Is it possible Ogden is telling the truth that he didn't contact DPS to reprimand the officer, but instead had the Governor call on his behalf?
There are only a handful of people that know what all went happen. What is clear is Senator Ogden and his wife were going 12 miles per hour over the speed limit, and the officer who was tasked to protect us was reprimanded. Perhaps the 1965 law needs to be reworked, or people who commit crimes, should deal with the consequences. |
