Kbf

• Publication year: 2017
• Pages: 53

KBF No. 86 J. Kan. Bar Assn 7, 53 (2017) Kansas Bar Journal August, 2017
From the 2017-2018 President of the Kansas Bar Foundation By Honorable Evelyn Wilson

We Each Have a Responsibility to Make These Encounters Safer

During a reception after the final concert of Topeka's Sunflower Music Festival - which was absolutely magnificent, by the way - I had an interesting conversation with a musician I'll call "Michael." Michael plays the viola professionally. His musical creds could go all the way to the bottom of this page and back.

Michael asked me whether I felt safe around the police. He said he doesn't, and told me a story. He was traveling with his teenage son one day, and was stopped for a minor traffic infraction. Michael asked what the problem was, and the officer was stern and unfriendly. Michael's license and registration were demanded. Unfortunately, Michael's license and registration were in his backpack, which was in his trunk. Michael started to get out of the car and the officer pulled his gun and pointed it at Michael. Michael sat back down. He was told to stay where he was. Michael said, "'Then you will have to get my license." The officer said he would not, because he didn't know what was in the trunk. Michael's son asked, "What do you think is in the trunk?!" whereupon Michael told his son to be quiet. Michael got a ticket for speeding and failure to have a license and registration and was sent on his way. And now he does not feel safe around police.

The last law enforcement officer killed in Shawnee County was making a routine traffic stop. He asked for a driver's license and got a bullet.

Stories like this are now a regular part of our news. Routine traffic stops are anything but routine. There is enormous distrust on both sides of the car window. With some, it has been that way for decades. With some, this is new. But that distrust makes any interaction dangerously volatile. One false move for either the driver or the cop could have deadly consequences.

I wish I had some great wisdom I could impart to solve this terrible societal problem. I don't. I can't. We need to.

So what does this have to do with being the new President of the Kansas Bar Foundation? Well, I think it has something to do with me, a State District Judge, being in the position of holding such an office. The KBA and KBF are, and should be, lawyers' organizations. While I used to practice law, I am precluded by the...