Page 314 - NIXBOOK

Because of Poulsbo’s strong Scandinavian heritage, complete with mulitiple visits from the Norwegian royal family over the
years, and sister cities in Norway, it was not unsurprising when one of my coworkers hosted a visiting Norwegian police officer
for a ride along one day. Memorable because she described to us how police officers there have to go to a police academy that
is two years long. Also she was a natural Nordic blonde.

Parents of a teen runaway were getting frustrated with the juvenile justice system; but then they had figured out that their
wayward teenager could be brought into court and face a judge, who could impose some civil restrictions on the kid that would
be enforceable with court sanctions if the house rules were violated. The teen girl was a chronic runaway, so we all thought
holding her accountable with consequences was a fanstatic idea. “I have this paperwork ready to petition the court but I can’t
present it until she comes back home from wherever she ran off to,” the exasperated mother told me. I didn’t understand. “What
do you mean she has to be in court too? It’s a Youth At Risk Petition! You should be able to file it today without her being
present.” The mother pointed to a section in the paperwork and told me to read it. It said the Youth At Risk juvenile person
needed to be present in court so a lawyer could be there to represent them. Not only that, it very specifically stated that the kids’
lawyer would first review the petition and see if there were any grounds to have it dismissed outright, right off the bat. Because
apaprently we can’t have juvenile court judges just telling kids that if they keep running away from home and ignoring their
parents they could get locked up for a weekend..teens have rights too, you know.

I caught quite a few folks over the years who had stashed contraband in their clothes. Sometimes when they saw me coming
they didn’t have time to look for a pocket. To make this educational, I’ll tell you that if you put drugs up a sleeve, you’ll be okay
with your hands in the air. But the when the nice police officer tells you to put your hand down, the drugs and/or paraphernalia
will probably fall out onto the ground at that point.