Coin Toss

I really get upset when people knock the police, because I have found over the years that the overwhelming majority of them are dedicated public servants who just want to do their job, help people, keep the laws enforced as well as they can until they get the perpetrator to court and everything goes to hell, and also go home after their shift.

And it goes without saying that most of us don't have to worry about getting killed while working. The average grocery clerk doesn't have to make split-second decisions about life and death, and they make almost as much money as police do.

But there I go, generalizing, and that's what I'm talking about. Yes, to be sure, police make mistakes. They are human. And there are mistakes made when dealing with citizens who are not at their most rational. Add weapons and anger and diminished lack of clarity because of alcohol, drugs and mental challenges, and that's when things go sideways.

And as I write this, I am envisioning police that I know reading it, and police haters that I know reading it. Everyone knows someone who hates police because they got a ticket 17 years ago, right?

And I think that there is one case in which all of us can find agreement, and that's the deal with these two women from Georgia, officers who had stopped a woman who was speeding (85 in a 45-mph zone!). The officers then discussed what to do with the woman and decided to haul out a coin-flip app to determine her fate.

Brown (l) and Wilson

In case you hadn't seen this on the news, I'll say it again: these officers had a woman who was driving at approximately twice the legal posted speed, flouting the law and placing all others on that road in tremendous peril, and they play a game to decide whether to give her a ticket or take her into custody.

Sarah Webb is the driver in question; she told these officers she was late for her job at a hair salon as an excuse for speeding. The police involved are Officer Courtney Brown and Officer Kristee Wilson. Brown said she did not have speed detection equipment and Wilson said she was on patrol without her ticket book, but between the two of them they decided to pull out the coin flip app and see what that told them to do.

They arrested Ms Webb and charged her with speeding, reckless driving and driving too fast for conditions, but after the game the officers played with her came to light, the charges were dropped.

"These are people who are supposed to protect us, and instead are treating our freedom and our lives like games," Webb, 24, told NBC News. "It’s disgusting. It’s scary to think police officers do stuff like this."

Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant has launched an internal investigation and placed both officers on paid administrative leave.

"This isn't a police procedure, to bring a coin flip — whether it's an app or an actual coin toss — that’s not part of that decision making to decide to take someone's freedom," Grant said, adding that the officers'  behavior is not representative of the standards of the Roswell Police Department. "I have much higher expectations of our police officers and I am appalled that any law enforcement officer would trivialize the decision making process of something as important as the arrest of a person," he said.

Webb said she's not satisfied with the officers being put on administrative leave, which she called "a paid vacation."

"I would like to see them fired, because they shouldn't have been playing with my freedom on a flip of a coin," she said.

 And I'm not satisfied, because we have a case of a woman driving like a homicidal maniac, and she is beating the charge because the officers handled the arrest so poorly.

And I'm not satisfied either, because this misbehavior just gives the police critics more to chew on.

As I'm sure their chief will point out, police work is serious business every minute, and if he allows them to continue their employment, they need to work hard to show that they get that.