Response to the Scifres arrest

by Suzanne E. Mahar

To the Editors:

   As an employee of Bowdoin, the wife of a Brunswick Police Officer, and a member of this community, I question the motives of anyone who refuses to leave the scene after a police officer asks him to. Even in small-town America, police officers put their lives on the line everyday. When my husband leaves for work each day, I can only hope and pray that he returns safely. When placed in every different possible situation, he has to be on his guard. On the one day he lets his guard down to "innocent" curiosity seekers, he will not return. Not leaving the scene of an incident or approaching an officer while making a routine traffic stop can result in tragedy. I am a 39-year-old mother of three, and if a police officer asked me to leave the scene, no matter how trivial it may seem to me, I would do so out of respect for authority, no matter what my curiosity. It is not a matter of respecting or questioning authority, but rather a matter of common sense. As for not being read his rights, if Mr. Scifres was not being interrogated, I believe the police were not required to do so. If placed in a similar situation, I certainly would not have waited to be offered an opportunity to contact my attorney, I would have insisted.
  Please remember, the day you or a loved one is in need of a police officer, it is someone else's loved one that is putting him/herself in danger and you will want as few curious onlookers as possible.

Suzanne E. Mahar

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