Taking A Stand: Borrowing radar gun was not so bad
Was the borrowing of a radar unit by City Administrator Herb Llewellyn to clock pitches of his little league team an abuse of power, or just a good deed to help the kids?
Now I know Mr. Llewellyn isn’t keen on the story that was written today concerning the issue. And, in fact, there were questions whether it would even be written. However, the revelation the radar unit was pulled from a patrol unit was the straw that broke the camel’s back since I severely doubt accommodations would be made for me to take an in-use radar from a police car to see how fast my son Jack is throwing his fastball.
The whole thing was brought up to me by people who had learned the city administrator had borrowed a unit for use with his baseball team. The folks I talked to say they would never be allowed to do such a thing, and police officers with whom I spoke openly believe they would be terminated or suspended if they arbitrarily used police property in such a way.
On the opposite side of the fence, let me just say in defense of Mr. Llewellyn, that what he did was nothing that would benefit him. He obviously did it for the good of the kids and he was very open and honest with me when we spoke Monday afternoon.
However, it was the way he borrowed the radar that brewed up the stink. Instead of getting the mayor and/or aldermen to sign off on its use, he went and borrowed it on his own accord. Obviously, the police couldn’t deny his request since he is the boss.
It all goes back to the way Mr. Llewellyn does business. He runs a tight ship. He expects accountability from his employees. However, by the same token, if you run a tight ship, you’ve got to be willing to abide by the same code. When you don’t, the people who you make follow your strict guidelines will tell on you.
If employees are expected to abide by checks and balances, then the boss should also have checks and balances. This check would have been as easy as walking over to the mayor’s office and saying, “Mind if I borrow a radar unit to clock the kid’s pitches?” I doubt the issue would have ever been brought up if this happened and there wouldn’t be any story on the front page had this been done.
When I spoke with Mr. Llewellyn, he noted there were probably other people who had used city property for other community things that we didn’t find out about. This is very likely true. He also seemed to think we were perhaps going hard on him because we don’t like him. The actual reason is because there are so many people eager to inform on him.
As for the use of such a device to help the kids, I’m all for it. I think he had the right idea but went about it the wrong way. I mean this could have been a good police/community function if it had just been conducted correctly and the radar used at a time when it would not have been in use in a patrol car. Now, I’m not a fan of tickets, but if this officer writes five tickets a day for four days at about $100 a ticket, that’s $2,000 in city revenue that wasn’t realized.
Like Alderman Bobby Kirby said, perhaps these devices should be made available to the leagues because they are fun. A check of eBay just now resulted in several hits of hand-held radar guns for as low as $159. Let’s buy a few for the leagues and in that way we assure there won’t be any future incidents.
Hey, just one speeding ticket can pay for most of one, Just hope you’re not the donor.
(Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)