 |
|
Search
City Hall175 East 200 NorthSt. George, UT 84770(435) 627-4000
| March 21, 2010 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services & Resources
City Forms andApplications
Job OpportunitiesUtility InformationPay Utilities Online
City Departments
Building & Safety DivisionCode EnforcementNew DevelopmentFire DepartmentLegal ServicesLeisure ServicesParks MaintenancePolice DepartmentMore...
City Council
Agendas & MinutesMayor Dan McArthurCouncil Members
Public Transportation
Conservation
|
Individual Responsibility Many years ago I responded to an area where 4-wheelers were cutting across a main road causing problems with traffic and dust. Many near misses were reported by motorists who suddenly had to brake for a young man zipping across the road. Now we respond to a crash where a man dodged a youngster on a scooter and hit two parked cars. In the first case, a young man got off the 4-wheeler at the roadside edge, looked up at me on the hill where I was watching and walked to a nearby house. Within 2 minutes a car pulled up, the lady got out and looked up at me and my car and shook her head at me. I felt that I was the one in the wrong. I have reflected many years on this and other episodes. From the guy arrested for DUI: "You're going to ruin my life, I'll lose my wife, my job, my house, my ...." In court, from the accused on the stand: "What the officer said is correct, but I didn't like that he lectured me....." From the perpetrator in a domestic violence call: "Yeah, I hit her, but you should see what SHE did..." And the kid arrested for drinking under age: "Come on officer, didn't you ever..." All these cases are a failure to accept responsibility for the consequences for a choice that was made. I have a picture of a cartoon that I found long ago. It depicts a vast herd of sheep going off a cliff. One in the middle says "Excuse me, Excuse me" and he is trying to get through the crowd faster than all the others. His vision is limited, his head is down and he is so caught up in fulfilling his intentions that he can't see where his path is taking him, thinking that the course he is intent on is worthwhile. Only by stepping back and seeing the big picture is one able to see the real destination. People on cell phones (crashes), people involved with drugs and alcohol (rash decisions, broken families, lost jobs), every assault, every theft, every DUI is a result of someone thinking of their own intentions without regard for others. Many crimes are perpetrated by someone's inaction: not locking a door, leaving a purse or dayplanner out, not closing the garage. All these and more can make a criminal out of someone who may not otherwise commit a crime. We give the opportunity, and they take it on the spur of the moment, like buying that candy bar at the checkout stand. We made it through the whole store, then took an opportunity in a weakened moment. Every act is a decision and has consequences attached with it. Many (if not most) decisions are not given enough thought. We haven't counted the cost. We haven't weighed the consequences. There is a solution. In whatever you do (or don't do) today, in every act and choice, think of how this could affect someone else and if it's negative, rethink. Or not. It's your choice. Make it a good one. Life will go on no matter what we decide. How it will go on is up to us. Craig Harding Public Information Officer St. George Police Department |
Sunbrook | SG. Golf Club
Red Hills | Southgate
Junior Assoc. of Golf
Weather Information| ©2007 City of St. George. All Rights Reserved. | Report Website Errors |