By Adam Pagnucco.
WJLA has reported that Council Member Kristin Mink called a police department commander to report her flat tire on Wednesday night. Mink called for shifting traffic enforcement from police to the transportation department during last year’s campaign.
A direct link from WJLA is not yet available, but I could watch the broadcast here from its 5 PM program. Following is a transcript. Alison Starling, Jonathan Elias and Kevin Lewis are WJLA reporters and Lee Holland is the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, which represents county police officers.
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Alison Starling: The Montgomery County police union is accusing a newly elected council member of abusing her position of power to get her flat tire fixed.
Jonathan Elias: 7 News reporter Kevin Lewis joining us live at the third district police station in Silver Spring to explain this. A flat tire?
Kevin Lewis: Yeah, Jon and Alison, Councilwoman Kristin Mink’s office just emailed 7 News within the last hour. Mink says she regrets her decision to contact department brass for help but says while stranded in the middle of the road late at night, she got pretty worried.
Lee Holland: We have more pressing issues than dealing with changing a council member’s tire.
Lewis: The Montgomery County police union says newly elected Council Member Kristin Mink got a flat tire around 9:30 Wednesday night. It happened along Briggs Chaney Road near the ICC. The FOP claims Mink didn’t call the police non-emergency number or AAA, but rather the commander of the entire third district.
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WJLA then ran police dispatch audio, the transcript of which is shown below.
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Holland: Usually, a district commander doesn’t get on the radio saying, hey, can you find someone to run that disabled vehicle. It seems like we’re trying to get favors now for council members that call in to commanders to expedite their service.
Lewis: In an email to 7 News, Council Member Mink explained she had just left a meeting where the 3D commander was in attendance. She got the flat tire a few blocks away, prompting her direct phone call to him. Mink acknowledged she should have called the non-emergency number and will speak with the county ethics commission if necessary.
On Monday, Mink tweeted this statement, calling for the county’s Department of Transportation to take over traffic enforcement, which Mink argued, would help curb systemic racism.
Holland: The sentiment that’s out there from statements publicly made that we shouldn’t be dealing with traffic enforcement or traffic encounters contradicts everything she just said by requesting that a police officer show up to help change her tire. And that’s where it has to be called out and it was called out by the FOP because we are the voice of the rank and file.
Lewis: The police union says that officers are not responsible for fixing drivers’ flat tires though they may do it from time to time as a kind gesture. Mink says AAA ultimately towed her vehicle and she then took the bus home. We’re live at the third district station at Silver Spring. I’m Kevin Lewis, 7 News.
***** End of WJLA Report*****
Comment from Pagnucco: This incident is a serious problem. County elected officials must not ask for special treatment from the police. Montgomery County’s Office of Inspector General must investigate it and issue a report to the public. And in fact, Mink should ask the office to do so. Anything less is an abuse of the public trust.