Massachusetts Page

Citizen's Academy - The Unfolding Series

I spent three hours at the Wellesley Police station last night - voluntarily.

The most interesting thing was our host, one of the detectives. If I ever commit a crime other than the crime of exceeding a deliberately underposted speed limit, I want him to be the one 'extracting a confession' from me. He was both funny and serious, scattered and focused at the same time, sensitive and understanding at one time and tough and macho a minute later... a great actor. The little old ladies in my class were ready to adopt him.

Anyway, I didn't get to see the radar gun in a squad car, although he showed us a lot of other toys. But there were a handful of points he made that concerned speeding:

• The judges get mad at cops if a lot of people challenge the tickets. He may very well end up dismissing most of them that day. The catch is, you got to be there.
• Very often, after a fatal, cops will be out enforcing traffic rules in the neighborhood. Be on the lookout until the show is over - usually a week or so.

See if your town runs an Academy for its citizens. It's well worth getting to know your police.

Truly yours,

P.S. Trivia Question of the Week:
How many of the simple traffic infraction tickets written by the seven Town Police Departments and by the State Troopers between Weston and Norwood were challenged last year in the Dedham District Court?

Answer next week.