Very hateful and dramatic law enforcement
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4/26/2012
I went to Lawton once while I was attending OU in Norman in the early 1990's and regret ever going there. I'm in an unfamiliar town driving in the rain at night. I am on a road going around the deserted mall, and I went through a red light. It did not seem to be a logical place for a light. Well, herw comes "50" blaring their sirens. Two cops come up, and one was like "Oh my god! Did you see what he did?" It was overly embellished. You would have thought I robbed a bank.
When I went to court, I was early. I said something jokingly to the clerk. He looked at me very hatefully and said "Excuse me?" In court, I explained to the judge why I ran the light, that I was a college student with inadequate income, I had been between jobs for a few weeks, and that I couldn't afford the ticket. He said "Well, this is just another one of your bills." Then, he cut me some slack and told me that he didn't have authority to arrest me outside the city limits (hint, hint - leave the city without paying the ticket, and nothing would happen to me aside from it being on my driving record)
As I leave the court room to deal with the same clerk as before, he starts harassing me and giving me grief. The judge had already given me permission to leave and get money from an ATM to pay the ticket (or leave town if I chose), and this guy with no authority starts ego tripping saying "How do I know you're going to come back if I let you leave?" The decision wasn't his to begin with.
Keep your crappy little town, Lawton! I've never been back.
| Norman, OK