A state police spokesman said Friday the First Selectwoman’s decision to ask a police officer to drive a drunk man home Thursday night was unusual, but didn’t necessarily violate any local law enforcement regulations.
Lt. J. Paul Vance said it was up to the individual trooper to decide whether the ride was needed in the interest of public safety.
First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said Friday that she was in the Brookside Inn with friends Thursday night when she noticed an obviously intoxicated man in the establishment. The man was making attempts leave the place to go to his vehicle and drive away.
Drayton-Rogers said she asked a police officer to give the man a ride so that he would get home safely.
“I didn’t even know the man, I don’t know his name. He was falling down drunk and I did not want him on the road,” Drayton-Rogers said.
The incident had her political opponents upset Friday, as word spread through Oxford.
“Absolutely, it is an abuse of power,” said former First Selectman August Palmer III. “So what they are saying is if you are drunk, don’t call a cab, call a state trooper for a ride,” Palmer said. “That’s the spin they are putting on this?”
Palmer said someone should have simply called the man a taxi. Drayton-Rogers pointed out there is no taxi company in Oxford.
Resident State Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky said he is looking into the circumstances that led up the officer’s involvement. He said the important issue is that an intoxicated man was kept off the road.
“I’m happy, if someone was intoxicated, they were not allowed to drive. I’m looking into the circumstances,” Semosky said.
Semosky said the Oxford officers have given rides to drunks in the past.
Vance said it is unusual for state troopers to perform that service, but in the situation, the officer would have to make a judgment whether it is warranted for public safety.
The Oxford Town Charter, in describing the role of First Selectman, states that the First Selectman assumes the role of police chief in the absence of an appointed police chief. The town does not have a police chief.
Oxford has town police officers and state police patrolling the town. Semosky is the supervisor.
