Ask a cop

The Torch sat down with Kennedy officer Charity Hansel in our latest Ask a cop.

Q: “Have you ever had to use your gun or your taser?”

A: “I have only been carrying the taser for a year and have not had to deploy it and I have pulled my gun several times, but thankfully never had to shoot anybody.”

Q: “What was the hardest arrest for you to have to make?”

A: “Probably the furthest one I had to track down was to New Mexico. The guy had committed a sexual offense against a couple of children and he ran down to New Mexico. It was hard because he kind of disappeared off the map. So at that time we started tracking his credit cards and we found that he had used his ATM card at an ATM machine down in New Mexico. What is neat about that is when you track financial things, such as ATM’s they now have cameras on them and not only did we verify that his card was being used but then the bank provided video footage and we said, ‘Yep, that’s our guy!’ That is the furthest one that I have had to track distance wise considering that we had to get New Mexico authorities involved. We then were able to get an interview and get a warrant for his arrest and he was then arrested in New Mexico and extradited back to Iowa.”

Q: “What would you do if you had to arrest a close friend or a family member?”

A: “What I would do is that we have a policy that isn’t really written, but if the case involves someone that we know, or that we are related to, or are friends with, we are morally obligated to remove ourselves from that because I can’t because objective if the case is say it’s against my sister, I’m not going to remain objective because I have an emotional attachment to that person. The morally right thing to do is to remove myself from that situation and let an officer that has no emotional connection to that person handle the case.”

 

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