New Rochelle Police Officer Caught Texting While Directing Traffic
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The addictive nature of cellphones was on display this week in Westchester County, when a New Rochelle police officer was caught using his phone while directing traffic.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, a viewer sent in a photo taken Monday, showing the officer in the street with his attention firmly on his cellphone – and not the cars on the road.
It seemed that the traffic light at Webster and Washington avenues was out, and the officer directing traffic was near the Citgo gas station.
In the shot, the officer seems to be responding to a text message, which strikes some as a bad example when the drivers around could be fined for the same thing.
"Instead of him directing traffic, he's on his phone texting," said Pedro Herida of New Rochelle. "That's not right."
The junction certainly seem dangerous to an average person, but if one is used to directing traffic, then the intersection can seem as comfortable as the driver's seat of a car -- a place where the illusion of control tells us we can multi-task without risk even if it isn't so.
"It's an addictive kind of a thing. We're wired to respond to these texts," said Mercy College behavioral services professor Mark Sirkin. "I've gotten a ticket for texting; my wife has gotten a ticket for texting. It happens to all of us.
The New Rochelle Police Department said it does not encourage texting on the job, although some scheduling and assignment communications do go to officers' personal phones. Still, Sirkin said texting while doing other things is not a good idea.
"Everybody thinks they can multitask, but the truth is the neuroscience shows that almost none of us can," he said. "There's about 5 percent of the population they call super-taskers, and all the rest of us are impaired when we're texting."
The officer did have some defenders.
"Hey, he's human," said Scott Stevenson of New Rochelle. "Everybody does it."
And depending on the circumstances now under investigation, "everybody does it" could be a legitimate explanation rather than an excuse.
When it comes to personal phones on the job, one police official told CBS2 it is it the same conversation every employer has with employees as to when cellphone use is appropriate and when they should be put away.
