(left to right) Officers Nicole Firebaugh, Cosy Sexton, and Sgt. Nick Stevens of the Kaufman Police Department ... (unrelated photo from 2016)
This posting will serve the "Public Patriots" and "Poverty & Despair" series of this journal/ blog. It will be to honour and support the actions of Sgt. Nick Stevens of the Kaufman Texas Police Department, Kaufman is a small Dallas area town of about 7000 folks. Sgt. Stevens has been with Kaufman PD for 5 years, prior to that he served 9 years as a U.S.Marine. Sgt. Stevens has been suspended from duties, pending a department internal investigation for insubordination to his superior, for arguing with his superior over his actions, which he stands firm on ... despite the department commending him for his charitable act. A Walmart store had detained a young man who stole a turkey leg and bottle of Gatorade to eat, they called police to come and arrest and transport the man to jail, being they wanted to prosecute the shoplifter. Sgt. Stevens answered the call, arrived, talked to the suspect and store security, and decided to instead, give the suspect money to buy food and let him go, and Walmart complained of the officer's actions. The suspect when asked by Sgt. Stevens, explained that he had nothing to eat for 2 dayz and was hungry. The suspect didnt have a criminal history, and Sgt. Stevens, simply understood the situation, used common sense, helped the hungry man, and let it ride. I myself was put in a similar situation many years back when I worked as security in Uptown Dallas' nightclub/ entertainment district one night, as you can see in the last paragraph here, so I can understand what Sgt. Stevens felt. Sgt. Stevens was simply doing the right thing, and this kind of act is importante for other officers to look closely at. Sgt. Stevens is looking out for his community and people ... and questioning the bureaucracy, which is what a public servant in a democracy should be about.
The law sayz that the victim (which would be Walmart in this case), has a right to press charges, which is understandable, and it also worx the other way around, to where the state can bring charges, even if a victim refuses to prosecute, depending on the charge/ case, so it's a 2- way street. What I find odd about this case, and sort of hypocritical on the part of Walmart, is back in 2006, Walmart said it would not prosecute shoplifters for taking under $25 worth of merchandise from their stores (NY Times). This was decided by Walmart, because the waste of time and expense of the store, as well as too much strain on police departments for petty things, with calls to detain/ arrest and transport small offenders, even employees thought it was good. Walmart is a huge store chain that actually throws out dumpster size amounts of food and various goods on a daily basis. Walmart is the largest retailer in America, this is no skin off their ass ... so I dont understand why such a push to prosecute a hungry person for stealing a meal. And Walmart refusing to even comment to public media on this, while putting fault on this officer, is just more of America's corporate arrogance to me, in a time where corporations are even trying to dictate our morality these dayz. In a small town like Kaufman, like many other towns across America, Walmart has become more like a monopoly, almost impossible to even compete with. The official newsread below from WFAA/ Dallas, with video interview with Sgt. Stevens daughter, Kelsey Stevens ... and Thank You to Sgt. Stevens for his service to the community.
Word Out ....
***** WFAA NEWS | DALLAS: Kaufman officer in hot water for act of kindness ... (newsread video)
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***** PD/ RCJ: "PUBLIC PATRIOTS" ... PART'S 54 THRU 1
***** PD/ RCJ: "POVERTY & DESPAIR" ... PART'S 4 THRU 1
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***** RANCH CHIMP JOURNAL "WELCOME" POST
***** RCJ MUSIC/ ART'S HONOUR ROLL SOCIETY (my hand- selected music/ arts picks)
***** "THE RESISTANCE | PERILS OF THE POWER POSSE" ... ( a 2 part futuristic Ranch Chimp Journal dream to dream on )
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