In an ostensible attempt to prevent a traffic problem caused by the procession, the CHP officer caused a far worse problem after having 100 cars stopped along the freeway.
The incident was captured on cell phone video as the family members were embarrassingly detained on the roadside during this somber time.
A uniformed officer was acting as an escort for the procession as the cars drove to Forest Lawn Cemetery when they were stopped by another officer, apparently drunk on power.
"I'm looking and I'm seeing the car my mom was in on the side of the freeway too. That was embarrassing," said Rachel Behn-Humphrey.
Behn-Humphrey said the actions of the CHP cop were outrageous, and he showed no compassion.
"A lot of the family members did not make it to the gravesite," Behn-Humphrey said. "We sat on the side of the freeway so long, they had to go on. I saw some of them drive past."
According to KTLA,
What exactly was this officer thinking? Here we have a funeral procession, headed up by a uniformed officer and this other officer felt it was necessary to pull over 100 people for driving too slow. In what world would that be okay?Humphrey has retained an attorney and was demanding a public apology from California Highway Patrol. Her lawyer admits the officer had complete discretion to pull over a traffic escort, but said the incident was handled poorly, and caused the family tremendous emotional distress.
"It exceeds the bounds of all human decency," said family attorney Edward Ramsey. "An officer has the discretion to stop or not stop a funeral procession. If it was me, I would have probably escorted this procession to the burial."
The CHP had not responded to KTLA request for a statement.
Police officers pulling people over during the most inopportune of times is certainly not isolated. The Free Thought Project has reported on everything from pregnant women on the way to the hospital being held at gunpoint, to asthmatics in distress dying on the roadside as police ignore their pleas for help.
Reader Comments
"A uniformed officer was acting as an escort for the procession as the cars drove to Forest Lawn Cemetery when they were stopped by another officer, apparently drunk on power. "
I would say not apparently, but obviously... He apparently did not use any form of common sense to even wonder why 100 cars would be traveling so slow. It would have taken a minute or two to inquire as to whether a procession of cars that includes a hearse, and a police escort might, in fact, be a funeral procession.
"Her lawyer admits the officer had complete discretion to pull over a traffic escort, but said the incident was handled poorly, and caused the family tremendous emotional distress."
Not before checking with his dispatch, or even looking at the CAD screen on the laptop in his own vehicle.
"What exactly was this officer thinking? Here we have a funeral procession, headed up by a uniformed officer and this other officer felt it was necessary to pull over 100 people for driving too slow. In what world would that be okay?"
In a world where we employ '12 year olds', recruited straight out of high school (or after getting their GED), and six months of cop school. These children do not posses one iota of discretion. As discretion comes from wisdom and wisdom comes from experience. "Poor Judgement"?, I would proffer... an obvious lack of an ability to judge, period.
How well can you sleep at night knowing that the cop that pulls you over for no good reason, or maybe even shoots you dead, that is supposed to serve and protect you, is young enough to be your own son? Scary