My son was stopped by a police officer north of Harrisonburg on Saturday.  He was on his way to a ceremony at a newly found slave graveyard—he was to be the videographer.

When my son saw the blue lights he pulled into a gravel driveway. He pulled in far from the road so as to keep the officer and him safe from traffic.

The officer in a voice low and loud ask for my son’s license and registration.  He was unfriendly and unhelpful when my son had a hard time locating the registration.  My son tried to make conversation, told him he was in a hurry to get to this graveyard ceremony and that is why he crossed the double yellow line to round the slow moving car.  “I have 20 minutes to get there,” my son pleaded.

The officer showed no mercy.  He took his good ole time checking out my son’s information. With glee, he told my son that his under-21 license had expired just days before (he just turned 20).  My son had no idea —no DMV letter in the mail, no email.

The officer then proceeded to accuse my son of evading law enforcement because he had pulled far into the driveway.  He also lectured my son –“what if you would have crashed into a family of 5 head-on when you rounded that car?  What if they all would have died? How would you feel?”

My son who has never been in trouble before or even gotten a ticket was handed his punishment.  “I’m charging you with reckless-driving and driving-without-a-license. Don’t ever ever do it again. “

The officer then confiscated my son’s license and told him he couldn’t drive, but “you’ll somehow have to get this van off this private driveway.”  When my son asked if he could drive the van to the parking lot a hundred feet away, the answer was an emphatic “no.”  He offered my son no solutions, no ride, no help.

The officer would have left him stranded there had my son not had the number of a man that was at the ceremony.   The man and his small child who came to pick my son up talked the officer into letting him drive the van to the parking lot 100 feet away.  My son stayed with this man’s small child till he could get back –the officer did reluctantly give this man a ride back to his car.

There are so many problems with this story, so many questions:  Do police officers know they are public servants out to do good for the people?  Do police officers know they incite anger and hostility towards their profession when they treat law abiding citizens like criminals?  Do their superiors have any idea how these officers are practicing their craft?  Do they care?

But the main problem with this story is that it’s too common.  My husband has been a criminal defense attorney for 16 years.  He will be the first to admit that there are wonderful officers out there, officers who treat people with respect and dignity, officers who try to calm people down, officers who are honest and good.

But he could also write books, literally books, of stories about officers who somehow believe that treating people poorly and accusing them of anything and everything is part of their job.  My son’s case is nothing compared to the stories people share with my husband.

My son’s conclusion:  “I actually feel sorry for him, Mom.  When I watched him walk away, I thought, ‘He must have a pretty miserable life. It’s pretty sad.’ ”