The traffic stop
We often hear some in the public suggest that their tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on deputies stopping vehicles for minor violations — headlight, tail light, license plate light, seatbelt, etc. Some go as far as to throw in the racial card and say these stops target minorities, suggesting that we should be focusing on more important crimes.
Our jury trial, conviction, and sentencing last week should serve as a good reminder to all of us how important traffic stops are, even some of those simple stops that may seem petty and unnecessary to some. (Jury trial was a few months ago so this reads kind of weird.)
Michael Davis was a repeat convicted sex offender in Utah before moving to Minnesota and serving in a local church with kids.
He was stopped for a simple traffic stop, a seat belt violation. With some great cop work by Sergeant Scott Prins who felt that something wasn’t right, and equally great work by our Captain of Investigations Jeff Brumfield and his team, the end result of that traffic stop was a dangerous sexual predator taken off the streets — likely saving more young people from becoming victims.
Davis is now starting a 360-month prison sentence for 1st and 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct and indecent exposure with a minor here in Minnesota.
Traffic stops can result in DWI arrests, narcotics arrests, warrant arrests, arrests of burglars and stolen property recovery, and more — all potentially dangerous and deadly contacts for our men and women in uniform. Most however end with a simple warning.
The reality here is, our men and women serving never know what to expect when doing traffic stops, even very minor traffic stops like Davis’s stop. This one reminds us how important these simple traffic stops can be.
The next time you hear someone complaining about being stopped by law enforcement, remind them about Michael Davis, and how his next victim could have been their child