Please allow me to meander just a bit.... One of the great gifts of small town policing, the kind we saw in the Andy Griffith Show, was Andy's ability to resolve every situation amicably. This happens or used to happen in small town America. In my old policing days, I am not ashamed to say that often enough- drunken bar patrons would call the police station directly for a ride home and if we had time as we often did- we drove them home. Back in those days, we didn't fear some public backlash. There was severability- which meant we were free to do our jobs as policemen without getting sued for the actions of others. That all changed in my lifetime as groups like M.A.D.D. and large award seeking lawyers found ways to sue the police and our employers, (government and thus taxpayers) for our actions. The lawyers were always looking for the most money or "deepest pockets." In the end, I won't speculate whether that was all good or bad. but it changed the way we did...