# Fire chief shot in court by cops **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919 "2009-09-05T00:04:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/1 "2009-09-05T00:04:06Z")
[Too bizarre not to share:](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_us/us_shot_in_court) > [@](#): > > JERICHO, Ark. – It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn’t hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps. > > The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court. > > Payne ended up in the hospital, but his shooting last week brought to a boil simmering tensions between residents of this tiny former cotton city and their police force. Drivers quickly learn to slow to a crawl along the gravel roads and the two-lane highway that run through Jericho, but they say sometimes that isn’t enough to fend off the city ticketing machine. > > “You can’t even get them to answer a call because normally they’re writing tickets,” said Thomas Martin, chief investigator for the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department. “They’re not providing a service to the citizens.” > > Now the police chief has disbanded his force “until things calm down,” a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff’s deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went. With 174 residents, the city can keep seven police officers on its rolls but missed payments on police and fire department vehicles and saw its last business close its doors a few weeks ago. Sounds like the cops are just a tiny bit out of control there. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/2 "2009-09-05T00:07:48Z")
**Seven police officers for 174 residents??** That’s insane. Around here, cities with under 20,000 residents usually outsource their policing to neighboring towns’ police departments. It sounds like a renegade sheriff realizing he can give out tickets for any damn reason, and pocketing all of the fines. He needs to go to federal jail. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/3 "2009-09-05T00:08:37Z")
Andy needs to make Barn keep his bullet in his pocket again to prevent this type of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/4 "2009-09-05T05:56:09Z")
Yeah, I read that story in the dead tree edition in the Dallas Morning News. One little fact that jumped out at me: > [@](#): > > “When I first moved out here, they wrote me a ticket for going 58 mph in my driveway,” 75-year-old retiree Albert Beebe said. I want to know just how long that driveway is, that he could get up to nearly 60 MPH on it. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/5 "2009-09-05T06:19:33Z")
He may have meant that they faked the speed. Or he might really have a good long driveway, it’s not unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/6 "2009-09-05T06:54:48Z")
Oh, I’m willing to bet that they faked the speed. I’m just gobsmacked that they’d fake it that much. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/7 "2009-09-05T07:06:30Z")
Well it _is_ called the **drive** way. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/8 "2009-09-05T07:15:21Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Well it _is_ called the **drive** way. It’s not a speedway though. Keep that bitch below 35! Seriously though, I bet they wrote the ticket for 50+ miles an hour because if it were any lower the “revenue” from the ticket would suffer from a large price cut. If a speed is x miles above the limit, there may be a huge increase in what a person would have to pay in their ticket. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/9 "2009-09-05T07:21:46Z")
Even if the guy was doing 60 in his driveway, that’s not a ticketable offense. On private property, you can go as fast as the property owner lets you. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/10 "2009-09-05T07:27:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even if the guy was doing 60 in his driveway, that’s not a ticketable offense. On private property, you can go as fast as the property owner lets you. True dat. Anyways, that city must have been filled with pussies who never questioned authority and just paid up, for the cops to have that level of audacity. ---
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/11 "2009-09-05T07:33:40Z")
Or that town had extremely aggressive cops that beat up those who didn’t do as instructed. They did feel able to shoot someone IN COURT with impunity. The fact that they couldn’t is beside the point, they THOUGHT they could. “Pay the ticket or little Betty is going to have a LOT more trouble in 9th grade. You don’t want us to find drugs on her, do you?” could go a long way in keeping citizens quiet, compliant, and paying. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/12 "2009-09-05T07:48:37Z")
That only reinforces my assertion. Backbone-less citizens who can’t seem to say to a police officer “I dare you.” Obviously not something you want to just be throwing around willy-nilly, but if they are going around trying to intimidate like that, _someone_ should stand up to them. Shit. Either way, it sucks for everyone even remotely involved. To have such a corrupt and power obsessed police force and that they have everyone under such control that they have the balls to shoot someone _in the courtroom_! Good it’s all having some light shined on it though. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/13 "2009-09-05T08:18:15Z")
They build shrines for fallen cops cause the only good ones are the dead ones. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/14 "2009-09-05T08:27:32Z")
Whoah there, **Claude**. . . Jesus, that’s a hell of a thing to say. I’m speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/15 "2009-09-05T08:47:07Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > Whoah there, **Claude**. . . > > Jesus, that’s a hell of a thing to say. I’m speechless. I’m not sure if he’s bashing cops by saying they are evil and should die, or saying that the good ones all get killed. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/16 "2009-09-05T09:06:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Martin declined to name the officer who shot Payne. It’s unclear if the officer has been disciplined. Disciplined? He should have been arrested and charged. Maybe he was, the article doesn’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/17 "2009-09-05T10:40:01Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > Whoah there, **Claude**. . . > > Jesus, that’s a hell of a thing to say. I’m speechless. Just kidding, my sense of humor is a little off color, I love cops to death, honest. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/18 "2009-09-05T10:44:44Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/19 "2009-09-05T13:13:45Z")
While I am sad someone had to get shot for these guys to get in trouble, I am glad something is finally being done about this. I live in Arkansas, and I’ve heard quite a few horror stories about that place. An actually well-used highway used to run through it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919/20 "2009-09-05T14:08:14Z")
Wow. A 75 year old got a ticket for going 58 mph in his driveway? I know of drive ways that you can go that fast on, but has been stated, you can’t be ticketed for it. This police force seems totally out of hand. I live near two small towns where the speed gets dropped from 65mph to 25 or 30 through town. And for good reason. But there are plenty of signs to warn you. > [@From the article](#): > > It’s unclear exactly what happened next, but Martin said an argument between Payne and the seven police officers who attended the hearing apparently escalated to a scuffle, ending when an officer shot Payne from behind. Heh. All seven of the towns (pop. 128) officers where in court. And they could not contain one unarmed man. So one drew a weapon and shot him. The worst we have around here is the fire chief taking his crew out to strip clubs and buying very expensive lingerie on the peoples dime. ‘Lingerie’, I guess that’s what they call it now. He is still the ‘Chief’. We are talking tens of thousands of dollars.:mad: That asshole is still in charge, while I can’t even buy a beer with diner using my per diem. “Waitress, I’ll need a separate check for my Miller Lite”.:rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-chief-shot-in-court-by-cops/508919.md?page=2)