Honesty Matters
It was only a few hours after I had left my card with the suspected poacher when my phone rang. “We need to talk” was the first thing I heard upon answering. After contacting them earlier in the day about the matter, I had given them the chance to be honest before I finished my investigation. The details about the incident the suspect provided matched everything that I already knew, but they didn’t know that. I was gauging their honesty and trying to determine how to proceed with the case. Honesty is generally rewarded within reason, failing to take responsibility or outright lying make the decision-making process that much easier.
During the past season I can recall several such contacts in which I already knew and could prove the details of the case but wanted to know just what kind of person I was dealing with. Would they outright admit without prompting? Would they need to know a few details before they realize I already knew? Would they be the type to refuse to admit no matter what?
The level of honesty is a key piece of information in my decision making when it comes to filing the case and is noted in all my case narratives. I want to reward honesty, and while that doesn’t always mean getting a warning, I can usually work with the charges to lessen them or talk to the State’s Attorney about doing the same during the court process.
As the investigation progresses and I provide more prompts, my discretion decreases until finally ending at the uncooperative subject. The individual that answers the door and says, “I’ve been expecting you, come on in” and openly admits to the matter in question tends to be the one who I will stand up for. No one is perfect and we have all made mistakes at some point.
Many wonder why in a certain case did this person get a citation or not. Factors like honesty, the degree of the violation(s), should they have known better, was it intentional, and other factors present that determine just how a game warden proceeds. Sometimes the contact alone is a good enough lessen. Other times the violation is just that big that a warning can’t be justified, but we can hold back in other areas such restitution.
Game wardens can do a lot in the field from a “don’t do this again” to seizing all equipment used in the criminal act. Each case varies and not every violation can be handled the same way, just as an accidental overlimit is different from an intentional one. We do our best to take in all factors while being patient and thorough. When a game warden stops and asks “is there anything else?” How a person responds can be as important as what is said. Particularly when we already watched you mud stomp that extra duck.
Game Warden Peter Miley – Cavalier area