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Wisconsin Chief Praised for Ticketing Self
Call him the Dudley Do-Right of Wisconsin. Kewaskum Police Chief Dick Knoebel doesn't care - as long as his story of giving himself a $235 ticket for a traffic violation reminds people to take care when driving around school buses."Police officers do good things every day and that doesn't get reported," Knoebel said. "All you hear about in the news is when a police officer is in trouble." Maybe that's why his story sparked such a big reaction. He wrote himself the ticket after he accidentally drove past a stopped school bus with its emergency lights flashing. He docked himself four points on his driving record and paid the fine the next day. It happened in September but never made the news until a few weeks ago, when the fine showed up in court records and was reported by the newspaper in nearby West Bend. After that, the story went worldwide, bringing Knoebel more than 150 congratulatory e-mails from as far away as Thailand, New Zealand and Russia. "I tried to answer every e-mail," the chief said. "If they took the time to e-mail me, I at least thank them for their comments." Two people sent $15 to help cover the cost of the ticket, but he wouldn't accept the money. Knoebel, a veteran of 34 years with the force and 20 years as chief, said the attention has been a distraction, but "if it's brought about the fact people are going to pay more attention to school buses, then it's worth it." Posted by: ryuge 2007-02-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=181277 |