Five pages and three sources used. This paper provides an overview of the murder case of Cara Knott, a woman who was strangled to death by California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Peyer. This paper provides an overview of the specifics of the case, including the fact that Peyer was on duty when the crime occurred. This paper relates the fact that Peyer had a history of pulling over women drivers in secluded areas and interacted with them in inappropriate ways. This paper considers the impact of this type of case and the way in which it changes the public perception of police officers. This paper also suggests that when this crime occurred in 1987, the case only served to enhance the growing negative environment in regards to the actions of police officers.
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college student Cara Knott while on duty; he was convicted in 1988 after two trials. This case, which made legal history on several issues, served to add to the
growing distrust the general public already held toward police officers, giving the populace reason to believe their safety was not necessarily protected under the badge. According to testimony from
several women, Patrolman Peyer had a history of pulling over female drivers on a particularly dark and desolate portion of San Diego highway, at which point he engaged the women
in "long, rambling conversations that left many uncomfortable and scared" (Anonymous, 2001, p. PG). How are citizens - women, in particular - supposed to abide by the law when
being pulled over when they fear for their very lives if they do? Is the general public justified in feeling scared and vulnerable with regard to the handful of
officers whose conduct detrimentally impacts the entire force? Californias law enforcement image has been severely tainted during the past several years with issues of racial intolerance and unsubstantiated brutality; add
to the mix a thirteen-year veteran Highway Patrolman whose motive operandi is to lure unsuspecting female drives to dark and desolate areas in order to pull them over and harass
them, and the general public is left with little about which to feel safe. This rising contempt toward the police force as a whole for the actions of a
few has created a virtual breakdown in trust to the point where people are wondering to what extent they are bound to abide when they believe their safety is at
risk. In spite of the fact that Peyers record indicated he performed his job satisfactorily, it can readily be argued that the primary focal point of his revisited evaluation
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