The job of your average beat cop has never been an easy one. They need to keep their eyes open, looking for signs of trouble, protecting the citizens they serve. The bad guys don’t exactly advertise that they’re, well, bad guys. They naturally try to conceal what they’re doing, trying to keep from getting pinched. But Florida seems to be growing a more honest crop of crook which, if the trend takes hold, should make the job of policing easier…
Walter Upshaw was recently pulled over for rolling a stop sign. As orlandosentinal.com recounts it, he wasn’t too comfy in his driver’s seat. Maybe he had some trouble getting to his wallet:
“I’m sorry officer, my gun is digging in my hip,” Upshaw told Officer Shane Overfield as a strong odor of marijuana flowed out of Upshaw’s car windows, records state. Upshaw, who is serving three years’ probation for felony drug offenses, is prohibited by state and federal laws from possessing a firearm.
It’s hard not to picture a plume of smoke a la Jeff Spicoli for some reason.
The pistol on his hip was loaded with one cartridge in the chamber and six more in the magazine, records state. He was charged with possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. He was released from the Orange County Jail after posting $5,150 bail.
Upshaw likely would have found himself proned out due to the weed cloud alone, so the cop probably would have found the heater anyway. But it was nice of him to come clean so readily. A better breed of bad guys making the beat patrolman’s job easier should keep the cops – and citizens – that much safer in the Sunshine State.
