Fishers P.D. gives drunk principal ride home

There’s a fuss going on in Fishers about “unfair treatment” of Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson. Here’s a quote from the story in The Indianapolis Star:

“A Fishers police officer’s decision to take an intoxicated high school principal home instead of arresting him for drunken driving was the wrong one, Fishers Police Chief George Kehl said Thursday.

“It doesn’t make us look very good,” said Kehl. He said an officer’s discretion is a valuable tool but admitted he could not justify its use in the case involving Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson.

Syverson, who was stopped shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday while driving home from a Christmas party hosted by Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Concetta Raimondi, should have been arrested and taken to jail, Kehl said.

Instead, the officer drove Syverson home.”

Now I have two angles on this story, I’m interested in law enforcement and I’ve had the privilege of knowing Mr. Syverson from when he worked at North Central. So here’s the deal, people are mad because the cop gave him a break. I don’t have access to the police database, but I would say that if this was a first time offense, the officer might have been giving Syverson a break by giving him a ride home. Is it unfair treatment? Possibly. Could it have been an act of grace? Possibly.

The officer did his job, which is to serve and protect. The fact is that he removed a drunk driver from the streets and prevented a possible accident. I think people are mad because they felt he should’ve been punished for DUI and I can also respect that opinion. I know that I’ve gotten pulled over for speeding and the officers have shown me grace, even when I could’ve been jailed for wreckless driving. Everybody deserves a break. That doesn’t excuse Syverson’s actions, but I think he’ll be more careful from now on, knowing that his reputation is at stake.

This could be Syverson’s one “get out of jail free card,” let’s hope he’s learned his lesson and doesn’t do it again. But I also think it’s unfair to criticize an officer who, by departmental policy, was allowed some discretion in this case. My question is directed at the school system’s superintendent, Concetta Raimondi. Syverson left Raimondi’s party drunk, as the host of this party, wouldn’t it have been nice of her to call this man a cab? Seems like there’s a round of blame to go around.