The recent Tiger Woods’ driving “incident” at his Florida estate has sparked quite the discourse among friends in the law enforcement, investigative and legal professions, focusing on:

Are celebrity offenders treated differently from the “average Jane/Joe” offenders? If so, how and why?

There was a general consensus (Congress: take note) amongst us that celebrity offenders are treated differently.  Weaving this agreement, with the how and why,  is no more a perfect example than the  past Friday Tiger Woods incident.  The facts, as we know them to be at this time, are:

1. Tiger Woods was driving his Lincoln Escalade SUV on his property at approx. 2:35 a.m. Friday and somehow hit a fire hydrant and his neighbor’s tree.  His wife, swinging a handy golf club, smashed out the vehicle’s window(s) to, purportedly, rescue her husband.

2. Although police arrived on the scene shortly after the incident, as reported by the Associated Press,  Florida State Troopers have been denied follow-up access to Mr. Woods three times, thus far.

3. At 2:00 p.m. today, via Twitter and his Web site, Mr. Woods, vaguely commented that he had embarrassed his family and “it” would never happen again.

4. His privately retained attorney, Mark NeJame, stated that Mr. Woods had complied with Florida requirements for this type of incident, which calls only for the presentation for review by police of the driver’s license, vehicle’s registration and proof of insurance.

Points 1, 2 and 3, while curious indulgences, don’t raise the questions that Point 4 smacks one over the head with.  I.e.  a) The tree was not on Mr. Woods’ property; the damage, thusly,  was to another’s property.   Did the neighbor simply accept the loss?  b) The on scene police investigation yielded that Mr. Woods was in serious condition and at times unconscious.  An RMA was obviously accepted by police, then why has the follow-up investigation by FSP not been allowed? (We may do things a bit differently here in NY but even as a CYA measure, a detective would have gotten a sign off on that issue.)  and c) Can a private citizen own a fire hydrant in Florida? If not, can Mr. Woods simply blow off the Florida State Police when municipal property is involved?

The voyeuristic appeal of the Tiger Woods case aside, it comes down to a call for fairness.  Had you or your neighbor or your son’s teacher, presumably all “average Joes and Janes”, crashed a vehicle into someone else’s property and taken out a fire hydrant, on the busiest news day, a local field reporter, shivering in her network provided strappy heels, would be busy earning a day’s salary hunting down an articulate neighbor to interview on camera.  On a really slow, uneventful day, she might even be on the scene with police still present, pointedly ignoring her questions.  The camera guy would have, at least once, panned over the offender’s mailbox or front door; wherever the (alleged) defendant’s address is posted. 

So why the difference in treatment?  I don’t think we, and certainly not the Florida State Police, will be satisfied until a complete investigation has resolved the matter.

Perhaps Mr. NeJame is preparing Mrs. Woods with the Bullwinkle defense.  That would certainly explain the club-wielding glass party.  Judge me guilty now, but I would have done the same under similar circumstances.

In the meanwhile, we’re sure the local crime reporters will continue to listen in to police radios, especially in celebrity enclaves. Well, we, along with celebrity news reporter, TMZ,  might as well all understand what is being transmitted.  Below are commonly used (generally) nationwide police 10 codes:

* 10-1 poor reception
* 10-2 good reception
* 10-3 stop transmitting
* 10-4 message received, affirmative, ok
* 10-5 relay this information to ___.
* 10-6 busy
* 10-7 out of service
* 10-8 in service
* 10-9 please repeat your message
* 10-10 negative
* 10-12 standby
* 10-13 civilians present and listening
* 10-15 en route to station with suspect
* 10-18 urgent
* 10-19 return to station
* 10-20 specify location/my location is ___.
* 10-21 place a phone call to ___.
* 10-22 disregard
* 10-23 stand by on this frequency (also “On scene” in some areas)
* 10-27 vehicle registration request
* 10-28 arrests/warrants on driver’s license
* 10-29 arrests/ warrants on the vehicle
* 10-32 gun
* 10-33 emergency traffic follows, hold routine messages
* 10-34 frequency open (cancels 10-33)
* 10-36 what is the correct time of day?
* 10-39 false alarm, premises was occupied
* 10-40 false alarm, no activity, premises appears secure
* 10-41 begin watch
* 10-42 end watch
* 10-45 fueling vehicle
* 10-49 en route to assignment
* 10-50 accident
* 10-51 tow truck needed
* 10-52 ambulance needed
* 10-53 road blocked at ___.
* 10-54 animals on highway
* 10-55 security check
* 10-57 hit-and-run accident
* 10-58 direct traffic
* 10-59 escort
* 10-60 squad in vicinity, lock-out
* 10-61 personnel in area
* 10-62 reply to message
* 10-63 clear to copy info?
* 10-64 message for delivery
* 10-65 net message assignment
* 10-66 net message cancellation
* 10-67 person calling for help
* 10-68 dispatch message
* 10-69 message received
* 10-70 prowler, fire alarm
* 10-71 gun involved, advise nature of fire
* 10-72 shooting, fire progress report
* 10-73 smoke report
* 10-74 negative
* 10-75 in contact with ___.
* 10-76 en route
* 10-77 ETA ___.
* 10-78 need assistance
* 10-79 bomb threat, coroner’s case
* 10-80 bomb has exploded
* 10-81 breathalyzer report
* 10-82 reserve lodging
* 10-83 work school crossing at ___.
* 10-84 if meeting ___, advise ETA
* 10-85 delay due to ___.
* 10-86 officer on-duty
* 10-87 pickup
* 10-88 present phone number of ___.
* 10-89 bomb threat
* 10-90 bank alarm at ___.
* 10-91 pick up prisoner
* 10-92 improperly parked vehicle
* 10-93 blockage
* 10-94 drag racing
* 10-95 prisoner/subject in custody
* 10-96 psych patient
* 10-97 check signal (“On Scene” in CA and other areas)
* 10-98 prison/jail break
* 10-99 wanted/stolen record
* 10-100 dead body
* 10-200 alarm

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BNI Investigators: Street smart; Web savvy.

As always, stay safe.

Filed under: 10-codes, accident, investigation, police | Tagged: 10-codes, 911, accident, attorney, bullwinkle, defense, fire hydrant, Florida State Police, gizmodo, insurance, investigation, lawyer, license, Mark NeJame, police, property damage, registration, ten-codes, tiger woods, TMZ, troopers, twitter | Leave a Comment »