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Burns
Trad climber
Arlington, VA
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Dec 21, 2006 - 05:49pm PT
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Wow, Ken, thats a crazy and pretty sad story. My dad was a ranger for 25 years, so I certainly have an appreciation of their situations. However, when you become a LEO, you understand that your job carries risks. I doubt the base jumpers posed a serious risk to the LEO unless he attempted somehow to detain them, which he couldn't realistically do since it sounds like they were at the top of the east ledges and the LEO had no equipment/cuffs or for that matter, his badge/ID to prove he was a LEO.
I really think there are two somewhat related issues here. The first is the validity of the law against base jumping, and the second is the manner in which the ranger handled the situation. One or the other is wrong. Either the law is valid and exists for good reason (the act has a potential to cause harm) in which case the ranger should have endeavored to prevent it (even just verbally discouraging them from trying) OR the law is invalid (the act has no potential to cause harm) and therefore the ranger has no moral obligation to attempt to prevent the act.
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MZiebell
Social climber
Prescott, AZ
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Dec 21, 2006 - 05:50pm PT
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Jerry:
"It's very suspicious and unfortunate that he chose the route of law enforcement, when crime prevention would have been a no-brainer IMO."
Well, yes, if his job was just to stop that one incident. It'd be like an off-duty CHP officer saying to someone in a Porche, " geez, I bet you could drive pretty fast in that thing. I'm an officer and I'm telling you not to" Then walking away.
Anyway; I didn't intend for this to turn into a debate on LE tactics or Lober's approach to things. I thought the story was funny, so I posted it.
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David
Trad climber
San Rafael, CA
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Dec 21, 2006 - 05:53pm PT
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Good point Jerry.
If the Ranger's goal was simply to stop the BASE jumping from occuring it would have been very easy to identify himself and suggest that they think twice about jumping. It seems like he was more interested in an arrest. Now the jumpers go in front of a judge and our tax dollars get wasted on this bull sh#t.
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MZiebell
Social climber
Prescott, AZ
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Dec 21, 2006 - 05:53pm PT
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Burns: I don't understand. No crime had been committed yet. Lober was off-duty.
EDIT: OK, I can see what's coming: another "Lober rant"...
Preparing to nuke...
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Dec 21, 2006 - 06:07pm PT
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MZiebell, wrong. A crime had been committed, conspiracy to break the law, which, in itself, is a crime.
I have some difficulty grasping the point of view that one should take the most optomistic view of the situation. How can one possibly know how a person may act? How can one know, for certain, if a person may be high.....I mean, no one would ever climb in that state, RIGHT? How can one know if a person has a warrant out on them? How can one know how desperate a person may become when they are threatened with loss of freedom?
One speaks of small chances? How small a chance are you willing to take, on people you don't know?
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