tags: duckling crossing, Washington state, SR-512, People Helping Birds, nature, streaming video
Springtime means ducklings .. everywhere, right? Well, if you live in western Washington state, then you certainly see plenty of ducklings. But this past Monday, 28-year-old Lakewood police officer, Dustin Carrell, stopped morning rush hour traffic in western Washington state near Seattle just so a female mallard and her ten ducklings could jaywalk the busy interstate.
At 9am, Carrell was off-duty and was returning his patrol car to the station when he noticed a car stopped in the left lane on westbound SR-512 near the I-5 interchange. He stopped to investigate and saw a female mallard and her brood of ducklings sitting near the concrete barrier in the median. He stopped traffic to protect the frightened ducks, and then positioned his car so they could cross safely. As you will see in the embedded video below, he even got out of his patrol car to escort the avian family across the busy interstate.
After the recent, stunning, acquittal of the three NYC Police Detectives in the horrible shooting of Sean Bell on the morning of his wedding, it does my heart good to see this act of kindness. I sat in my coffee shop and cried the first time I watched this video. This police officer deserves a raise [2:20].
Contact Officer Carrell;
Officer Dustin Carrell
Lakewood Police Department
5504 112th St SW
Lakewood, WA 98499
(253) 830-5000
I called the Lakewood police station today and expressed my gratitude to them (Officer Carrell was not there, so I spoke with another officer), and I was informed that they have heard from a lot of people and they are going to give an award for Officer Carrell. If you would like to express your thoughts or help with this award in some way, feel free to contact them.
That light we see is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
-- from The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene 1
by William Shakespeare [1564-1616]
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Having once taken an equally stupid risk to prevent a large snapping turtle from getting run over on a busy road, I fully understand and applaud officer Carrell's efforts. Anyone who considers the life of a wild animal precious enough to put his own welfare at risk for the animal's sake is a wonderful reminder of just how good people could be, if only we would.
I think Officer Carrell handled the situation adroitly. He obviously understands how the local population will respond to that type of police activity (which well-illustrates his understanding of the populace he serves), and is a master traffic-handler. I don't see that he put himself in any real danger.
If he'd tried that in L.A., he'd be dead. If he'd tried it in Silicon Valley (where I live), there'd have been at least a close shave.
I celebrate the consummate skill of his response, his kindness, and the patience of the people of Lakewood.
This remindes me of a story my father told me many years ago. Back when the Plaza was still the Plaza (in New York City) there were a pair of potted decorative trees in front of the main entrance facing Central Park South. In early Spring, the doorman noticed that a duck had laid eggs under one of the trees and was dutifully watching over them. When they hatched, the duck and its ducklings, in typical New York style, ignored the "DON'T WALK" signs and marched across the street completely stopping traffic. What is interesting about the story is that not a single driver honked a horn or tried to drive around the small parade. Everyone just stopped and "awwwed" as they found their way to the ponds in the sanctuary of Central Park.
This takes nothing away from what the officer did for the ducks, but why are people assuming he did it for and only for the ducks?
This was a potentially dangerous traffic situation as people reacted to the ducks. There could have been a serious accident either from movement by the ducks causing people to suddenly slow or swerve or from people gawking at the animals as they went by.
The officer acted correctly to remove the potential for accident by removing the potential cause. But for all we know, he went home and had duck for his next meal.
It's just like Make Way For Ducklings! Everyone remembers that book...right?
Many years ago, there was a similar incident in Boston, immortalized in the children's book Make Way For Ducklings.
The city put bronze statues of the ducks at the spot, but those had been stolen at least twice as of 10 or 15 years ago (when I lived there) so I dunno what their current state is.