By Mark Esposito, Weekend Blogger
Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an ongoing series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes live among us and that their service is quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward – and ours, too. You can read all of the Grace Under Pressure series by going to the blog search box and typing in the word “grace.”
The contractions were coming fast and furious when eight and a half-months-pregnant, Rachel Kohnen, summoned her husband to get the SUV started at around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. No novice to child-birth or false labor – Rachel has three kids already — she told him the pain was very different. It felt like the baby was coming and now was “go time.” True to his uxorious duties, husband Ben revved up the engine and the couple sped along an Iowa highway towards a hospital always too far away when you need one. As speeds approached 85 miles per hour, the vehicle attracted the attention of the Ft. Dodge (IA) highway patrol. Rachel tried to call 911 to explain her situation as her husband managed to keep the SUV between the white lines but the dispatcher couldn’t understand the frantic words because of the incessant shouts from waves of pain.
“Keep going,” Rachel implored as the cruiser lights flashed. The SUV kept going and so did the Manson County police officer. “He starts following me and he turns on his lights an my wife says we can’t pull over. The baby is coming now,” Ben would later tell a local TV station. A call for back up was heeded and officers on the road ahead of Ben’s vehicle set up a spike strip which disabled the SUV’s tires.
Guns were drawn and the cops cautiously approached the now stopped make-shift ambulance. Held at gunpoint, the scene went from tense to dangerous. And in a departure from the horrific scenes of deadly police-citizen encounters we sometimes see in the media, an all-too-rare bout of common sense prevailed. Seeing the agony of Rachel, the officers holstered their weapons and gave her a police escort to the birthing room. Ten pound Baby Hazel was born an hour later and in good health.
“Normally when you get somebody clocked like that and they fail to pull over, the first thought in my mind is we’ve got somebody drunk or on drugs,” Manson Police Chief Tom Ritts said – and with good reason.What could have been a horror story as nervous cops met frenzied parents-to-be after a high-speed chase at 4:00 in the morning was averted by the oldest of human rights protections — common sense and a compassionate heart. No crimes were charged except possibly a speeding ticket for Ben.
It’s worth remembering that cops face incredible challenges with incomplete information most of the time. Who hasn’t shuddered at the notion of a cop stopping a speeding car on a cold, dark night and walking up to the window to find out what is going on. And all for our safety. Cops over-react, get scared, do stupid things — like everybody else. And we should hold them accountable when they do because we arm them and ask them to act in our name. Just like we should praise restraint and compassion when it’s shown.
An old sheriff friend of my father used to say that “all police problems start out as people problems first.” He meant that people get sideways with the legal system for more reasons than just wanting to go do something that violates the law. Sometimes it’s unintentional or wrought by stupidity and ignorance or compelled by the thoughtless acts of others. One size didn’t fit all in police work and uniformity wasn’t as important as trying to get it right.
That was a different time and different style of policing. Then, discretion meant throwing the books out occasionally when, in the exercise of good judgment, no crime was intended and no harm done. People’s lives didn’t have to be ruined by one mistake or one bad decision. It was imperfect and subjective and based a lot on knowing the person involved and not just the statute or ordinance broken. In short, it was anti-modern without the emphasis on empirical data and objectivity.
Sadly, the proliferation of violent crime has made cops and citizens more guarded and determined to follow the rules to the letter. Small town justice is derided as discriminatory or based on favoritism. Relying on the good judgment of the people you put into authority now seems passe’ when once it was de rigueur. Maybe that style of idealistic policing never existed except in the Mayberry of the old Andy Griffith Show but growing up in a small town, we sure thought it did.
Sometimes, in places like Iowa, maybe it still does.
Source: Huffington Post
~Mark Esposito, Weekend Blogger
By the way and for better or worse, the views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not necessarily those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays of art are solely the author’s decision and responsibility. No infringement of intellectual property rights is intended and will be remedied upon notice from the owner. Fair use is however asserted for such inclusions of quotes, excerpts, photos, art, and the like.
Feh.
Call me a buzzkill. But this story juxtaposes warm and fuzzy, with (potential) horror and tragedy.
We are all so primed up with the dozens of police/citizen encounters that end in tragedy, when one ends the way it should, we fall back to our innate “see, not ALL police are bad”, and desire to believe in their goodness. And we massage our Stockholm bruised minds with such pollyannaish viewpoints, so as not to feel as bad as we actually know it to be.
When such a story as this actually becomes non-news, then we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that all is right in the world.
Thank you, Darren! Your explanation was very helpful. 🙂
Years ago they used to say, in case of an emergency, to wave a white handkerchief out the window to alert police and other vehicles that you, or someone in your vehicle, were in distress and needed to get to the hospital. I guess no one does that anymore–and very few people own a handkerchief now a days.
Glad to hear that all ended well.
Situation solved! Put a white terry cloth towel in your car in case police pull you over. Good idea!
Darren – Arizona used to have exigent circumstances, not sure if they still do. And I love to turn in cops who run red lights thinking it is their Divine Right. State law says they can only do that when they are an emergency vehicle which requires both lights and siren going. Usually, they will just whiffle their siren to get themselves through. And I call the station. My theory is if it were me, they would be writing me a ticket. My quota is two a year. 🙂
Darren, that is great advice, and very rationally explained. Thanks!
This is a great story with a great ending. I can see the need for caution, this sounds like a rural area which is probably mostly farming. Generally these officers are not as trigger happy as city cops.
I am glad Hazel was born safely. I wonder if the police exceeded 85 mph to get her to the hospital.
Thanks, Mark. I echo those who welcome a “good” story when so many recent stories showcase either evil or stupidity.
Good job. Hats off to you.
@Happypappies
Maybe they will send the SWAT team to her house later on??? Am I getting cynical??? Am I becoming crisis addicted???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@Happypappies
Maybe they will send the SWAT team to her house later on??? Am I getting cynical??? Am I becoming crisis addicted???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Well,
What if—-the crisis was something different where you couldn’t wait. Like — A Cerebral Hemorrhage —- someone’s face turning purple you know? Time to go out the door…..
Not an addiction but I would say a preference to waiting for an ambulance in the great outback—And I do know what you mean coming from the Ferguson area. For sure………………….
Prairie Rose:
“Great story, Mark! It’s so nice to read stories with happy endings.”
************
You are what you read.
Oh and congratulations!!!!
“Sometimes, in places like Iowa, maybe it still does.”
I grew up in Iowa, so this line makes me smile. It is the Shire in many ways.
Great story, Mark! It’s so nice to read stories with happy endings.
This story was nearly my own some weeks ago. My husband spent most of the drive wondering what would be the best way to handle flashing lights in the rear-view mirror if such an issue arose (thankfully it did not).
Should we pull over (in which case the officer would very likely have delivered the baby–we were at the hospital only 10 minutes before he was born)?
Or, should he call 911 to request a police escort?
Darren–any advice?
Prairie Rose:
Under the laws of all states for the most part, the driver has a duty to pull over reasonably quickly and in a safe location when directed by a law enforcement officer. Emergency lights, siren, or hand signal may be used. There is a common law defense, and in some states statutory, that a person broke the law because of “exigent circumstances” meaning that an emergency was of such a degree, an offense cannot be prosecuted. This does not apply to capital crimes I believe. It is quite varied in how the courts will view the exigent circumstances and it is often up to the defendant to raise the issue during trial or motions, meaning post citation, summons, or arrest.
From a practical and pragmatic point of view it is better in a situation such as a medical emergency to pull over as signaled by the law enforcement officer and then follow the LEO’s direction as to proceed.
Some of the reasons are, aside from violations of the traffic code and any affirmative defense, the is the safety of the patient and the driver. If a collision happens because the driver is inexperienced in high speed the patient would be at greater risk simply because they did not actually arrive at the hospital. Also, the driver’s vehicle is not equipped with emergency lights to warn other drivers of the approach and the extra speed. Furthermore, if a “felony stop” is made on the vehicle because it continued driving at a high rate of speed it would take much more time than to just pull over in a normal fashion and it would only be a minute or less for when the officer contacts the driver.
One thing to also consider is even if the driver might be exempted from criminal liability in the failure to yield to law enforcement, the civil liability of driving at high speed and causing a collision is not as easily mitigated.
In short it is better to arrive later than to not arrive at all.
So, can you put your distress lights on as a way of showing police you are in distress? Distress lights and waving a towel. Anything else?
@Darren
You can call it extraordinary, but I just call it dull. What is there to fight about or get mad and incensed at??? Nothing. Not even anything that we can call other commenters names over. I can’t even think of a good Irish Poem about this. I tried, but this is all I came up with, and it really sucks:
A Cop Out???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
A woman in labor was speeding
To a hospital that she was needing.
What the cops didn’t do,
(To her little dog, too)
Was to leave the both of them bleeding!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
A Cop Out???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
A woman in labor was speeding
To a hospital that she was needing.
What the cops didn’t do,
(To her little dog, too)
Was to leave the both of them bleeding!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky – Cops are just the living end
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
A woman in labor was speeding
To a hospital that she was needing.
What the cops didn’t do,
(To her little dog, too)
Was to leave the both of them bleeding!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky – Cops are just the living end
Well, at least they didn’t leave her there screaming.
🙂
It is often the ordinary that is extraordinary.
good thing they didn’t shoot her with a taser.
how does the old song go “I was born my fathers son, when I hit the ground I was on the run”.
happypappies:
What makes this bitter-sweet is the sense that it’s a rare event. I bet it’s not, but you’d never know from the media which publishes the extreme and not the run-of-the-mill.
You are right. I did not think of it that way. 🙂
Good story but kinda sad too cause of the times we live in:(
Kudos to the cops. It could have been a horror story.
The 911 call was a good idea. What would police suggest? I think pulling over the first time would have ended with a police escort faster. A 10-pound baby?? I hurt just reading!
Mark – thanks! Perfect timing for a great story with a happy ending. 🙂
Good story Mespo!.
Oy vey, literally, I feel her pain. I too had a ten pound baby. What a great ending despite the tire spikes and drawn guns. It could’ve ended so differently.