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Blog Entry 2 of 3 So This is Life. Hmm.
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and be the first to see the show that I like to call My Life. My name is Jenna Becker, I am 18 years old, and I just graduated from Columbine High School. Come with me as I attempt to figure out living on my own (well, in my parent's house, but oh well) becoming my own person, and standing up for what I know is right. Should be the ride of my life.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~ThisIsMyStory

Punishment? Or abuse?
Contributed by: Jenna Becker   on 6/22/2006

It is the second or third day of Spring Break about two years ago. A 16-year-old girl decides to drive over to her friend's house a couple miles away, just to hang out and talk for a few hours. Before the girl leaves home, she grabs a handle of Bacardi rum, barely thinking about it--almost as an afterthought. She leaves home and drives off without telling her parents she is leaving. A little while later, this girl is completely drunk and confused, and she is incoherently driving home from her "friend's" house. Police lights flash in her mirror, and instantly she knows. She knows how stupid she has acted and what a terrible mistake she made. She realizes right at that moment that she is getting pulled over and arrested.

I know her story so well because that girl is me. I was that drunk, confused and upset 16-year-old girl that fateful night nearly two years ago when I was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

I admit that I made a huge mistake. I believe that driving drunk is wrong and I am genuinely ashamed that I made that choice. Of course, I'm going to have to face the consequences and punishments for my irresponsible actions. After 30 hours of community service, 24 hours of alcohol education classes and 68 hours of therapy, plus countless breathalizer and urinalysis tests (and countless tens of thousands of dollars, all taken out of my college fund) I believe I have learned my lesson, and now I know that under absolutely no circumstances am I to drive if my mind and/or body is under the influence of anything. After a long journey back to redemption, I have learned this lesson the hard way: don't drink and drive.

However, after taking all this punishment and consequences, after swallowing my pride, disgruntlement and especially my dignity and submitting to the judicial system's set requirements for DUI punishment, it still wasn't enough. I remember that night I got arrested more clearly than I would like to. I remember everything that happened, and I remember what the arresting officers said to me. And just thinking about it infuriates me.

This is how I see it: when a cop goes so far as to call you horrible names (words that can't even be printed here) and humiliate you when you have already been taken into possession for breaking the law, something is wrong. Why is it necessary for the cop, after he has already arrested you, to humiliate and degrade you as a person? Isn't it enough that he has just arrested you and put cuffs on you, and forced you into the back of his car? Does he really have to take his sick and cruel pleasure in debasing a 16-year-old girl who has just made a horrible mistake and already feels like the scum of society? Is he really that sadistic? Apparently, he is. I thought a police officer's job was to enforce the law. I didn't realize that some cops take it upon themselves to make degrading people part of their job as well.

I understand that a cop's job is very difficult and they have to deal with a lot of belligerently drunk, angry people. However, I was in no way rude or confrontational with the police. My philosophy is, if you've already been pulled over, you're already screwed. Yelling at the cops isn't going to make your situation any better; in fact it will make it much worse. So I kept all my drunken emotions in check and submitted to the road-side test, submitted to being handcuffed and got into the cop car with barely a word out of my mouth. Although I was very compliant and cooperative, I remember one of the cops telling me that I was a "stupid drunk @#*$*" and a "piece of trash."

Who is he to say things like this to me? That's not part of his job. He had already arrested me; I wondered why he had to be so cruel. Even as I began to cry in the cop car on the way to the jail, both cops continued to make fun of me.

At the jail, I really had to go to the bathroom. I asked the cops if they would uncuff me so I could take care of it. They refused. I needed to use the restroom for about six hours while they held me in jail; they absolutely refused to uncuff me, even though I asked them several times. At one point a cop working at the jail said, "What, are you gonna pee your pants? Are you so drunk that you can't hold your (bladder)?" All the while I desperately needed to use the restroom, they refused to undo my handcuffs for even this simple human need. Does this kind of punishment seem cruel and unusual to anyone else?

Obviously, the vast majority of teenagers dislike police for one reason or another. I definitely have my reasons--but no, I don't think all cops are evil. I think that some police take advantage of their position of authority and use it to make themselves feel more powerful. And to these particular cops, I just have one thing to say: I won't be broken down by you. The judicial system can take away my driving privileges, my money, my time, some of my freedom, and even some of my rights. But they can never take away my pride.


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Kevin Murcray
posted on 6/22/2006 @ 11:26:09 AM
Rated Blog Entry
As long as you are being reasonably respectful to them, the police should be respectful to you even if they're arresting you. You shouldn't have been treated like that!
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jenna Becker

Littleton , CO

Jenna Becker has posted 3 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 6/21/2006. Jenna Becker 's average blog rating is 5.
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