It was about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. I was walking with a friend home from Pita Pit. We had wanted a late-night bite to eat. It had been a pretty easy-going night. He and I just hung out at my apartment talking, nothing big.

We were about to cross the intersection at Hayward and Knapp when an ISU student police officer just barely comes to a stop and then pulls out in front of us without using a turning signal. Angered, I say loudly to my friend, “What the **** use a turning signal you *****!” The officer proceeded to turn around and pull into a driveway blocking the sidewalk in front of us. He told me not to draw attention to myself, and that he could take me to county jail for being drunk and “running my mouth.”

Having been completely sober, I offered to take a breathalyzer test. He then stated, “Do you even know traffic laws?” Before I had time to get out a statement he says, “Didn’t think so. Just keep your mouth shut.” Never having been in this situation before, I agreed to keep my comments to myself and then he told my friend and me to “have a nice night.”

It both disgusted and frightened me that an officer on a power trip and out of mere retaliation could accuse me of being intoxicated and threaten to arrest me just for speaking my opinion, however brash and inappropriate, a basic First Amendment right. Curious to see who was really in the wrong, I later looked up in the 2009-2010 Iowa Driver’s Manual the law on turning signals.

“Get into the habit of signaling every time you change direction. Signal even when you do not see anyone else around. It is easy to miss someone who needs to know what you are doing.” (pp. 40, section 5).

Last time I checked, traffic laws and rules applied to everyone. Are law enforcement officials, in particular student officers, exempt from this rule? Is it an unspoken commandment that with the right uniform and badge you can get away with doing and saying whatever you please?

Isn’t it hypocritical to routinely stop others for traffic violations and issue citations when you yourself don’t abide by these rules? Whatever happened to the idea of “practicing what you preach”? And finally, are these individuals in law enforcement because they truly care about public safety or because it is a way to boost their egos and gain some sense of power through subjugation and reprimanding others?

I’m sure that there are members in law enforcement who are decent people who stick to the book and follow the rules just like every other citizen. But to the ones who don’t: What gives you the right not to? Just wondering.