Give the Cop a Break

I say we cut sleepy cop some slack.

There's a lot we don't know about a stealthy photo that surfaced last week of a Cedar Rapids police officer sitting in his squad car, head back, eyes closed and mouth agape. Is he sleeping or yawning or meditating? Was this a long repose, or a quick, well-deserved break on a 90-degree afternoon. We don't know who took the photo, or even if its composition is entirely authentic.

I do know that “Sleepy Cop,” as the young officer has been dubbed, would be a great band name. “Budweiser presents Sleepy Cop, with special guests Secret Snapper and Viral Pix.” OK, sorry.

I assume the unnamed photographer was hoping for outrage over a taxpayer-funded siesta.

And yet, it hasn't sparked much.

Among the Internet commentagensia on The Gazette's online site, many more folks argued for slack-cutting than official retribution. And this is, normally, not a compassionate crowd, so I have a feeling that general opinion would be even more sympathetic to sleepy cop.

There were a couple of doughnut jokes. A reader or two called for his firing. But a large contingent argued it was really no big deal. Police are only humans, doing a tough job. Nothing more to see here.

And maybe we'd be able to whip up a better indignant froth if we weren't so dang tired.

This is a very sleepy country. Study after study argues that we sleep too little, with a litany of consequences. It used to be we'd walk into a gas station and buy a 12-oz. Coke. Now, we're greeted with three coolers filled with rows of energy drinks -  supersized syrupy cauldrons intended to prop up our sagging hold on consciousness. I think that's a wake-up call.

There's a lot of data suggesting we might actually benefit from a quick dose of workday shuteye. But we have a double standard about that sort of thing. Sleeping clock-punchers are lazy. Sleeping CEOs are brilliant. They write books with titles like, “The Napping Point - How 13-minute Power Naps Changed Everything.”

So when we saw sleepy cop, some of us thought, gotcha Officer Lazy. But many of us saw ourselves, exhausted from our heavy midafternoon eyelids down to our sedentary toes. I know he makes his living off other people's taxes, and we certainly like our police to be wide-awake on duty, but we also have no proof that he wasn't doing his job. If it turns out he wasn't, he'll likely face some sort of appropriate punishment.

That's good enough for me. No reason to lose sleep over it. As for the rest of you, let those who are well-rested cast the first pillow. And toss it this way, I could use it.

Comments: (319) 398-8452 or todd.dorman@sourcemedia.net

UPDATE --Turns out he wasn't on a break and has been reprimanded, but remains on the force. The cops won't give details of his punishment. Seems like an appropriate end to the saga.  

The picture was taken in the morning, not in the afternoon, and the officer had been working an overnight shift.