New definition of sheriffnado!!!

[Michael Rogers]

Now put yourself in that guys place. He's sitting there watching what was looking like it was going to be a large tornado developing and heading right in to his home town with all his good close friends and neighbors and family. How would you feel? Probably scared to death for all of them!

And then on your normally quite country roads an armada of vehicles appear, some not acting so nice, running back and forth trying to see his home town and friends and family blown away. How would you feel then?

Plus the fact all of his close friends and family were probably calling scared to death at not only the storm, but also all these people around. Heck, if all of these storm chasers are here then something MUST be coming!

Also remember that even if this officer called for backup (assuming somebody did get out of line) his backup is probably 45 minutes to an hour away (yes, that is a realistic number). For example, in Northwest Kansas the state police have what they call "Troop Dâ€￾ responsible for that portion of the state. At times, there is just ONE Kansas State Patrol Officer for all 18 counties. Think about that for a second. If he gets in trouble, his closest backup could be coming from a quarter state away! Needless to say, that officer was well outnumbered that day. Remember that he doesn't know any of you and you all could potentially put himself or his community in danger. Let alone having a tornado to worry about.

As with the others, I'm not trying to discredit what this officer did. It appears he was completely out of line. But come on guys, cops are people too, plucked right out from the public. I've seen some videos of storm chasers screaming as if their head was cut off while watching a tornado. Now replace that excitement with fear and anxiety while trying to protect your entire county by yourself (with no knowledge on severe thunderstorms to boot). Other than some bruised feelings, nothing happened.

It is imperative that the storm chaser/law enforcement community keep a good relationship. Because if storm chasers get into a pissing match with law enforcement, we will lose.

I'm not going to invest in a $100 system to monitor police officers on traffic stops, etc. This is just silly. This isolated situation may happen from time to time but to feel the need to actually have a system in place to protect myself is blowing everything way out of proportion.

As for the flashing lights, I have the same views as most of you. I have one flashing amber light that I can stick on the roof of my car, but have never actually used it. The only time I'd use it is if I was trying to warn other motorists of a flooded roadway, power lines down, etc. I DO have some magnet "SkyWarn" decals that I stick to the side of my car while I'm chasing. Reason being that when I pull over by a farmer’s field, I want them to know that I'm not there trying to do any damage to his field or cause problems. Believe it or not, farmers are very paranoid about their land and often watch through binoculars at a great distance if they see somebody. I was once told to leave by a farmer after I pulled over next to his field. While I technically was on a public roadway, I complied and apologized for making him uneasy.

All in all, what the cop did was WRONG! Period! But come on guys; let’s not go overboard on this.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Check this out..

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64693

 

[Gerard Jebaily]

Does anybody else have any footage of any sort of something like this from that day? I only have the one video on youtube which has part of a yelling from that cop. More footage would be good.

 

[Danny Neal]

:Referencing David Drummonds point and others side notes about feeling human emotion in that time:

I can totally see the correlation between that. Even by the "pro-tornado" thread we have. He sitting over there S******* bricks about his life and family/friends potentially being wiped away, and he sees a bunch of out of state/in state chasers, all bunched up on the side of the road, doing cartwheels(figuratively speaking) at the event. I mean I am not saying those of you out there were actually out loud saying "HELL YEAH TURN BABY TURN!" but I mean I guess I realize both sides of the story. Like I said before his outbursts were out of line, but as Dave and Michael elluded too, who among us, wouldn't be upset and overwhelmed, if you saw your own house/life being destroyed or come close to be, and a little hostile if you had a bunch of "strangers" sitting there doing high fives, and screaming, and racing down the road. He probably figures....hmmm if that hit our town....how many of these guys would lend a helping hand? Not that we have to do it, but I can see where he would make a point where, he thinks "these dudes could give two damns about me and my lifestyle"

(This post is not to be anti-storm chasers and not at all how I feel about the civility of this guys actions, but more of a if I were in his shoes how would I feel about it)

 

[Shane Adams]

I get the whole "his town and friends are in danger, he's freaked out" thing...I understand. But my mere presence, regardless of the situation, doesn't warrant a verbal outburst. I'm very cordial and respectful around law officers, but I refuse to become the bad guy because I'm there and he's worked up over something I understand far better than he does.

All I'm saying is, when I've done nothing wrong, I expect to be treated with respect, not used as a punching bag for someone's panic attack. And even when I am, I still comply (though it's through protest). I'm a big enough human being to let it go, knowing the guy is stressed out. But an officer, when the dust settles, taking the impression away from it that the chaser (possibly me) is a law-breaker/hulligan/trouble-maker....that's wrong. Being in a position of authority, part of the training is learning how to seperate emotions from duty...clearly any cop or sherriff who harbors ill will towards chasers they merely encountered during the s$#%storm, after the event has passed, has failed in that aspect of his/her job.

 

[Jay McCoy]

I agree with Shane.

I agree This guy was freaked out and under extreme stress during this event and acted as many a human would and lashed out at what he thought was people "gettting off" on what was causing his stress.

The only huge problem I have had with this entire situation is what he did hours later well after the storm, the chasers, and his cause of the stress was long gone and that was calling Jason's boss in what appears to be retaliation. He purposely lied and tried to get him in trouble or fired. That is the 1 point I cant get beyond and NOBODY has even tried to justify. Yes during the event it is understandable but the post event act is not. It almost makes me embarrassed to wear my badge but I know the majority of cops/fire/emergency service/EMT's act professionally. At least the ones I work with.

 

[Danny Neal]

I agree...with you both.

I am not making excuses for him, and I agree with Shane totally about how its not our fault the tornado happened so stop taking it out on us. And Jay's continuing point is the clincher in this. Its a win win situation for this guy. He can ruin another guys name and reputation, while there is nothing we can do to ruin his, even if we wanted to. As Dave pointed out, this guy could probably get away with murder because its an "everybody, knows everybody" basis.

I can say if I were confronted with that situation, I would be in jail. I do not take kindly for getting ripped a new one, ESPECIALLY since I am not hurting lives or property. Well this is like beating on a dead horse now. Unless someone actually brings it to the attention of the department or media, and even so it doesn't matter anyway, because other than we, the storm chasing community, whose going to care.

 

[SteveCarter]

<<<<<< I agree that this is being blown way out! Storm chasers have driven millions of miles over the last 30 years without similar incidents and because someone got yelled at (not arrested, not touched, not ticketed) people are willing to start doing everything from installing spy cameras to having Al Sharpton ride shotgun. >>>>>>>

I think there are a LOT more incidents than you think...they just have never been brought up. See my post #135. I WAS going to get a ticket, not just a verbal chewing out, and had I actually gotten one, there is no way I would have not have went to court. The thing is....I don't care if the police officer is scared, having a panic attack, or what, he STILL should not have behaved like that...period. If he crumbles at the first sign of a potential crisis, he needs to look for another job. One of my best friends is a cop, and I couldn't do what he does, but.....that's why I'm not a cop. I saw the video too, and it should be turned over to a supervisor, and this guy should be reprimanded. I wish I would have done something last year, but I just shrugged it off, and really never thought anymore about it, until now. I WILL say too...95% of the cops have been ok, and even a couple of them stayed around to chat and talk weather.

 

[John Diel]

In hopes of putting this to bed, I will say this much. No matter how outraged we, as individuals, may be, no matter how we thought the incident in question went down, WE aren't the agreived party(ies). We as chasers should not take it upon ourselves to "punish" this officer for his actions. That is for those who had direct contact with the officer to pursue (or not) as they see fit.

David Drummond has had the best voice IMHO so far. Go back and read his posts. Place yourself in both paties shooes with the circumstances as they were at the time. How would I react in that given situation? I don't really know. I would hope that I would act professionally on either side of the fence.

One thing I fear most about Storm Spotting is that I may, one day, have to observe and report on a tornado bearing down on my little town and my home, family and friends. I hope that I can remina professional enough to save a few lives. Would I? I simply don't know.

After 17 years in almost ALL aspects of Emergency Services, I do have a certain expertise to fall on, but I can tell you, all bets are off where family is concerned.

We've spoken our piece about the incident (at least most have). Almost all the views have been expressed and laid before those who were actually there and had occasion to be involved. Leave it at that and let those folks make thier decisions accordingly. For some, there's way too much adreneline starting to pump. I've read some really hacked off comments here and they aren't appropriate in my opinion. Let's all back off and cool down. Let's get back to what our passion really is here. WEATHER!

 

[Robert Rohloff]

AMEN...........LETS GET BACK TO TRACKING.! Spring is young, no sense getting too wound so early...........

 

[Tarmo Tanilsoo]

Amen!

Back to the weather...

 

[KMcCallister]

Just how big do chaser covergances get? I am wondering if anyone has seen over a 100 chasers/people on a tornado? I would assume it will only get worse as more and more people are interestd in chasing every year. I assume OK and KS has the biggest storm chasing crowds?
Have a nice day.

EASILY over 100 on some tornados. (Maybe more like 1000) Was anybody anywhere near Mulvane on June 12, 2004? There were hundreds of cars of just locals that I saw along with all the usual chasers. There were probably 100 people if you only counted the ones in the backs of pickup beds with beer coolers. Are they what we like to call "real chasers"? Obviously mostly not, but to cops, there is precisely zero difference.

 

[Steve Worthington]

OMG.... 17 pages and only one short video zzZZZZZZ

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

welcome back from the dead sherrifnado

Somewhat fitting considering similar incidents this year, just goes to show that this can happen anywhere and anytime, regardless of the increase in chaser traffic.

 

[TJKLECKNER]

Just a few days ago another sheriff called in a wall cloud that produced 70 mph winds. The weather service person was quick to let the dispatcher know that it was most likely just a shelf cloud along the storms leading end.....