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I feel compelled to respond, albeit indirectly, to last week’s letter/tirade by Anonymous. I wish to describe my own, recent personal experience with the Bend Police Department. I offer this account not as a rebuttal, but in hopes that others will also provide their perspectives.

I was driving, with my 5-year old in the back seat, through a school zone and was subsequently pulled over by an officer who politely pointed out that I had been driving a bit too fast. He could have issued me a citation, but instead encouraged me to observe the posted speed limit in the future. For me, the whole encounter was neither unpleasant or inconveniencing (it lasted 3, maybe 4, minutes). Moreover, the officer’s demeanor didn’t seem consistent with any authoritarian or revenue-generating motive. Instead, I took away a feeling that this was just a routine episode in a larger public safety mission.

Sincerely,

James Wakefield

This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2009.

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The Cops are Alright

by Eric Flowers, The Source - Bend, Oregon
February 25, 2009

<h1>The Cops are Alright</h1> <p class="byline">by Eric Flowers, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />February 25, 2009</p> <p>I feel compelled to respond, albeit indirectly, to last week&#039;s letter/tirade by Anonymous. I wish to describe my own, recent personal experience with the Bend Police Department. I offer this account not as a rebuttal, but in hopes that others will also provide their perspectives.</p> <p>I was driving, with my 5-year old in the back seat, through a school zone and was subsequently pulled over by an officer who politely pointed out that I had been driving a bit too fast. He could have issued me a citation, but instead encouraged me to observe the posted speed limit in the future. For me, the whole encounter was neither unpleasant or inconveniencing (it lasted 3, maybe 4, minutes). Moreover, the officer&#039;s demeanor didn&#039;t seem consistent with any authoritarian or revenue-generating motive. Instead, I took away a feeling that this was just a routine episode in a larger public safety mission.</p> <p>Sincerely,</p> <p>James Wakefield</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/the-cops-are-alright-2132932/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=16613&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/the-cops-are-alright-2132932/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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