December 21, 2013
Saturday PM

In response to everyone that has delivered an opinion on this matter, I would like to say that I do agree with Amanda. I think she is very valid in her point. I think that the whole situation happened at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Mr. Simpson was at Fawn Mountain to watch his child perform, if he was truly attempting to evade the police would he have really showed up, not to mention the fact that he had been seen in days earlier at various locations throughout town doing very normal things like buying cigarettes. This does not sound like someone who is hiding out.

Vanessa, yes he was wanted on a felony warrant for a petition to revoke probation, which is in reality, not a very serious offense. The reason it was a felony warrant is because the original charge in the case was a felony charge, and is nearly three years old. I am not saying that I think it is appropriate that he brought a knife or drug paraphernalia onto the premises but if you get right down to it I would almost guarantee that he was certainly not the only person present that had a knife in their pocket and unfortunately he was probably not the only person present that had drug paraphernalia in their pocket, he just happens to be the only one that got caught.

I have to say that I too think that intentions of the Alaska State Troopers may have been good. I did personally witness them allowing Mr. Simpson to talk with his family, which was very respectable. Assuming that he would cooperate was a mistake, as Kelli said herself; Mr. Simpson has eluded police in the past. So what would make them think that this time would be any different, the bottom line here is that I would like to think that as law enforcement officials the Alaska State Troopers would be trained to properly analyze a situation prior to it taking place, especially when it going to take place during an elementary school performance with children everywhere. Impact vs. intent, the intent was good but the impact, far from it. I guess is what I don't understand is why it couldn t have waited until Mr. Simpson headed to his car where less people would be placed at risk and it would have been outside of the school.

Think about the little girl that was knocked to the ground, had it taken place outside would that have happened? Also, think about the child of Mr. Simpson that is a student at Fawn Mountain and had to return the next day knowing that his father was the person of interest that everyone was talking about. Mr. Simpson was in the wrong that I can agree with however, someone that is not in their right state of mind can't be expected to act accordingly, and the Alaska State Troopers should have taken that into consideration. They fall under the Department of Public Safety and they did anything but provide public safety this time around.

Received December 19, 2013 - Published December 21, 2013

Related Viewpoint:

Arrest at Elementary School By Amanda Martin

RE: Arrest at Elementary School By Vanessa Nowland

RE: Arrest at Elementary School By Kelli Carlin-Auger

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