Brad Hollerbach is the Director of Information Technology for the Southeast Missourian. His opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the newspaper or its editorial board. He writes this blog primarily for his own amusement and to parody the absurdities of the world we live in. He lives with his wife and two cats that don't really care for one another in Cape.

Questionable Location of Police, A Huh???!!! Moment

Posted Friday, November 27, 2009, at 8:37 AM

Is this intersection of Shirley and Arnold a good location for a "speed trap?"

There are a lot of things in this world that make me question the decisions and choices of many of my fellow human beings.

In short, these are "Huh???!!! Moments."

I had one of these moments on Monday when I was returning to work after a late lunch. I'd been to Lowe's and was leaving the store using my "short-cut."

Traffic on Lowes Drive -- that's the short little stretch of roadway that runs west of Siemers Drive to Lowe's, go figure -- usually is congested thanks primarily to the three stop signs at designated pedestrian crossings and your usual collection of Slow Moving Morons that tend to congregate around most retail establishments.

So the shortcut I use to avoid most of this congestion and any clueless SMMs ambling about is to turn off of Siemers onto Arnold -- that is the road behind Lowe's -- which ells into Shirley Drive. Shirley is the street that runs between Lowe's and Kohl's and in front of Sam's Club. I then swing into the Lowe's lot from that side and park near the garden center. And when I leave Lowe's, I reverse that route.

My Huh???!!! Moment occurred while on the short stretch of Shirley that ells into Arnold. Obviously there are plans to eventually extend Shirley southward, but at the moment they are essentially one street with a 90-degree turn. For some reason, drivers going west on Arnold have a stop sign while vehicles going south on Shirley do not.

It was at this junction that a police officer was sitting on Monday afternoon. I assume he was stationed there waiting for someone to roll through that inane stop sign so he could present the unlucky driver with a ticket.

"Have a Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for doing business with the Cape P-D"

But you know, I could be completely wrong.

Perhaps, the officer was having a late-lunch and decided this was a nice place to eat his take-away. Or considering the number of area bank robberies we've had in the past week, maybe he was proactively guarding the branch that is located a short distance away next to Wal-Mart. If someone tried to rob that Bank of Missouri location there are strong odds that the thieves would flee southward, right where this officer was stationed.

But then again, I have often found that my first assumptions are usually right.

The officer probably was waiting for some unsuspecting motorist to violate the law at this out-of-the-way intersection. After all, it is almost the end of the month, and everyone knows there are quotas to fill, so maybe this policeman was just trying a new spot for a ticketing.

Personally, I don't think it was the best location. It wasn't as if the officer was hidden from view. He was in the open, visible from all direction for everyone to see. You would have to be a moron to miss him.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Maybe that's who he was targeting. Morons. SMMs do tend to congregate around most retail business establishments and there are lots of those places that surround Siemers Drive.

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Or maybe he was writing up a report from a shop lifting incident? Oh, wait, that wouldn't make for an opportunity for you to mock the Police Department, or all those people you think are morons. It must be nice to be so very superior and know everything. Even nicer when you don't really have to know anything, but can just make assumptions about everyone else.

Get a life Brad.

-- Posted by Professor_Bubba on Sat, Nov 28, 2009, at 7:44 AM
Brad I can't believe you didn't roll the stop sign to test your theory. If indeed he was casing the bank for robbers he wouldn't of had time for your infraction. If he was writing up a shoplifting report he wouldn't of wanted the additional paperwork. If he was there to give out a ticket at least your funds could of provided paint for lines on Mt Auburn.

Professor_Bubba, Brad has a life and I enjoy him sharing his incites. If you do not like what he has to say read another blog!

-- Posted by Cutlass1964 on Sat, Nov 28, 2009, at 12:04 PM
I agree on that stupid Mt Auburn road. I have a big SUV (love it) and with no foot on the gas I coast at 20 on the straight way, and 35-40 downhill without even trying. I'd rather get a speeding ticket than have my foot on the break the entire time.

-- Posted by Skeptic1 on Sat, Nov 28, 2009, at 1:21 PM
I have wondered about that pointless stop sign many times. Glad someone else noticed, too!

-- Posted by awayfromcape on Sun, Nov 29, 2009, at 12:43 AM
It is this kind of irresponsible journalism that causes people not to trust the police. The guys and gals in blue put themeslves on the line for the people in our community for little pay and NO THANKS. I happen to know many of the uniformed police officers here in Cape and they are a great bunch of people. You, as well as everyone else in this community, should consider your/themselves very fortunate to have a professonal, concientious police force to protect us.

Brad, your comments and assumptions have absolutely no merit if you didn't ask why the officer was there. Unless you asked, you DON'T KNOW why he was there. The kind of trash you write (at least in this instance) is the epitome of trash journalism. If you were a responsible journalist instead of a tabloid wannabe, you would have done some research and would not have made ignorant assumptions. I wonder why people trust newspaper articles less and less?!?

-- Posted by Road_King on Thu, Dec 3, 2009, at 8:17 PM
Road King, if anyone ever thinks anything in this blog is "journalism" they should have their head examined. It is purely entertainment and I would hope that anyone who follows this blog on a regular basis would realize it.

If you ever read any "news" here, it was purely by accident. While the officer being parked at this intersection surprised me, it gave me a reason to point out this idiotic stop-sign that I have long loathed, but the Cape P-D didn't put it there. I believe the authorization of stop signs and stop lights is the city council's responsibility.

In fact, Professor_Bubba's comment was probably right. The officer was likely filling out paperwork since their patrol car is their office. Actually, I hope the officer was taking care of paperwork and not looking for a traffic violation because it would be a stupid place to monitor and the fine for running a stop would be minor. He would be better off nailing speeders on Siemers or on the bridge route.

Thanks for reading.

-- Posted by Brad_Hollerbach on Thu, Dec 3, 2009, at 9:42 PM

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