September 02, 2008
Tuesday

The smelly rat I refer to is "troopergate." Much has been said about Sarah Palin abusing her power. Looking closer at the issue, it comes to light that the involved trooper has had several incidents that truly scares me as a citizen:

"The record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession," Col. Julia Grimes, then head of Alaska State Troopers, wrote in March 1, 2006, letter suspending Wooten for 10 days. After the union protested it, the suspension was reduced to five days.
(http://www.adn.com/politics/story/476430.html)

Troopers eventually investigated 13 issues and found four in which Wooten violated policy or broke the law or both:

Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.

He illegally shot a moose.

He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.

He told others his father-in-law would "eat a f'ing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.

The "allegations" that he used his taser on his step son has been confirmed, by no less than the accused himself.

One day -- maybe a year or two before the investigation -- Wooten showed his stepson his Taser. He had just been to Taser instructor school. Wooten told Sgt. Wall that the boy was fascinated and pleaded to be tased.

"So we went in our living room and I had him get down on his knees so he wouldn't fall. And I taped the probes to him and turned the Taser on for like a second, turned it off. He thought that was the greatest thing in the world, wanted to do it again," Wooten told the investigator. The boy flinched but nothing more, he said. The boy was about 11 at the time.

Are you kidding me?? What, are we now supposed to justify his behavior because a ten year old begged to be tasered? If I was caught treating my kid like that, I would be making my acquaintance with Bubba in the Big House! This officer of the law who is charged with protecting our children from harm gets FIVE DAYS SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY!

What I'm not seeing is the outrage!

I'm smelling a rat, a big, fat, stinky, smelly rat.

I don't care about "domestic squables." I do care when our State Troopers who are supposed to be protecting us are tasering our children "because he begged me to."

Linda Burger
Ketchikan, AK

About: "Alaskan resident afraid that if she needs to call 911, someone like Wooten will show up. "

Received September 02, 2008 - Published September 02, 2008

Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:

Webmail Your Opinion Letter to the Editor

SitNews ©2008
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska