Anyone hear of or see the crap story bashing the PGC and so called abuse by some of its officers.  It was headlines for two days and aired last night on WTAE.

One sided with no expalnation of the game laws or what laws were broken by the offenders.  Just the offenders, or their attorneys, side of the story.  For viewers that do not know game laws it would appear that officers are abusive or harassing citizens of this commonwealth.

No facts presented about the cases.  Painted the PGC with a broad brush as being an independent agency that is operating in a rogue fashion without oversight.

Even Ed Rendell chimed in with he can't do anything about the alleged abuse.

WCO Bimber was singled out and he may be a jerk, but the story was framed to make it appear that this "abuse" is commonplace.

Crap it was.  A smear campaign by someone.

Doc, did you hear about this or get any feedback from within?  I have sent several emails to the station in expressing my displeasure.

Here is the link for those that are interested.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/15439913/detail.html  

--Last edited by dpms on 2008-02-29 11:16:36 --

dpms:

Yes...as a matter of fact I did see the story about Rodney Bimber.

Let me begin by agreeing with the only thing you said that was true. Bimber is a jerk!!! No doubt about that.

Apparently you didn't play too close attention to the story. Bimber was given every opportunity to speak. In fact he was given that on 2 different occasions. He chose to say what most guilty people say "NO COMMENT"...then he was rude as he is most times and told the reporter to"....GO FIGURE IT OUT"

Now as to what Game Laws were violated. The answer is "NONE". These kids were not hunting, trapping, or doing anything at all that Bimber had any authority over. They were swimming, minding their own business until Bimber got involved.

Now for the facts....this case was tried in Clarion County and the young people were found not guilty and the Court determined that Bimber was the individual that broke the law.

Now for some more facts that you conveniently left out. Channel 4  showed a picture of Bimber receiving "Office of the year award"...hardly seems like a biased report to me.

As for Gov. Rendell...he's as bad or worse than Bimber. IMHO he's the absolute worst Gov. Pa has ever had. I can't wait until he leaves Harrisburg, and goes back to Philly...where he should have stayed....maybe we can agree on that also.

BTW.....what defense to you have for the way Bimber treated the young man with cancer.

This was NOT a smear campaign. Bimber deserved everything he got and more. The PGC should fire him. It's people like him that give WCOs the bad reputation they have.

But not too worry....I think you and I both know that Bimber is well connected to the upper crust (no disrespect intended) in the PGC and will not lose his job. I read about an investigation of the incident and the PGC found Bimber's actions to be acceptable. Big surprise....wonder how that happened!!!

I hope these young people get a lawyer and sue Bimber and the PGC. I hate to see my license fees go to such a thing, but someone needs to learn a lesson.

Maybe I better add that Bimber has never arrested me so I do not a personal beef with him. I have seen him in action. It wasn't pretty. You'll find very few people in Clarion County that have much good to say about him. In fact I heard he was going to be transferred as soon as this new class of WCO graduates this spring. Maybe he requested it.

Nissan

Nissan,

 I have no doubt that this WCO is a bad apple.  But, he had every right to do what he did.

 Let's see, he pulls into a parking lot and kids scatter.  Obvious underage drinking going on.  Some run into the woods.  It just so happens that the kid with the keys to the car that the clothes are in is hiding in the woods, the reason why the girls are standing in thier underwear.  He calls the State Police and detains them until they arrive(which takes 1 hour).

 Ever hear of a citizens arrest.  You and I have the right to detain someone who is breaking the law until the police arrive.  He did just that.  

 The shooting range incident.  Ranges have laws to how many cartridges in a magazine.  This guy was breaking the law.  Officer Bimber had every right to cite him.  

 Every day, police pull over speeders and hear every excuse in the book to try to explain why they are driving so fast or sob stories for sympathy.  Every LEO is skeptical of any unusual story.  That is the nature of the business.  

 Horseback riding on SGL's is illegal except if one posesses a commercial license or is riding on designated trails.  The offendors had niether at the time of these incidents, but they did have friends in high places.

 The local DA has an axe to grind against the PGC and this particular WCO.  That is why the charges were all dismissed.

 All this WCO was doing was enforcing the law.  As any would.  This guy may be a jerk but the story was presented in a way that those that do not know the game laws would think the PGC oversteps it's bounds frequently.

 All this story did was make it more difficult for WCO's to do thier jobs.

dpms,

I guess we could debate this issue for quite awhile. I was not going to reply, but you have made some statements that are misleading to say the least.

The incident happened down on the Clarion River....not a parking lot like Wal-Mart. It's Bimber's story that under age drinking was involved. The court report I read offered no proof of that.

Why would the Clarion County DA have an ax to grind with the PGC or Bimber. I think you'll find out that the DA has helped prosecute cases brought to him by Bimber and the PGC.

Let's be honest here....Bimber could have detained these kids with their clothes on just as easily as he did without their clothes. I think we all know why he chose to do otherwise.

OK...so maybe the young man with cancer did have more ammo than the legal limit. I don't know. I don't recall if the news report said if they were arrested. Maybe they were. I personally think that is a ridiculous regulation. Bimber could have used a bit of common sense. He even questioned the friend about the cancer story. There is certainly nothing wrong with showing a bit of compassion and understanding. He could have explained the reason for such a regulation and gained some respect.

Now as far as the horse back riding on SGL. I DO know what I'm talking about in this case. The people involved do NOT have friends in high places as you suggest. Whoever told you that is wrong wrong wrong.

One last comment on this issue and I will give you the last word.  

Absolute power absolutely corrupts....not my words but they fit this case very well

Have a good weekend
Nissan

I think the PGC should probably transfer him.

It's time for the PGC to start over in Clarion County.

I'm not saying he did anything wrong, but imho, it's time there to bring in someone new.

It's a shame, he's an excellent WCO.

Right or wrong.

End of story.

I find it very interesting that the WCOs  who do there job by enforcing the laws (in general) get bad raps.....  remember I have one here too that "MOST" do not like and wish would get transfered ....

Now substitute law breakers, folks arrested, or folks that break laws but have not been caught YET .. for the word " MOST"... and you have those complaining the loudiest...

I do agree he should have left the kids put their clothes on and from info I have received MAYBE should have just kept going instead of stopping in the first place....

There are times even with my local WCO they get this -  I'm a "want to be cop" thing - in their mind and to me that's wrong..... they should only be allowed to enforce GAME LAWS....

as for citizen's arrest.. it is RARE you hear of them because of possible law suits...SO ...

In the "river case" I think they SHOULD try to suit either the WCO or the PGC..preferable the WCO.... I'd want a court (JURY) to prove the "probable cause of a game law violation" for the reason he stopped... ??????

just my 2 cents on this one...

Look, I will be the first to tell you that that of the two times I was checked by WCO's 1 was a bad experience.  The guy suspected me of doing something that I wasn't and searched for for what he was looking for.  He did not find it.  I came away from that with a very bad taste in my mouth.

With that being said I can look beyond that and see how this story was presented.  A rogue independent commission without any formal oversight operating without supervision.  My wife does not hunt and does not know game laws or the duties of WCO's and that was her interpretation of the report.  If that was hers, I am sure many others feel the same.  I purposely did not comment until she told me what she thought.

Because this officer was not disciplined and was named "officer of the year" once, people would assume that this behavior is the norm when it is far from it.  That is not how I want our PGC portrayed in the time of infighting, the legislature holding the PGC hostage, hunters complaining and now a story like this.

We as hunters know the game laws and can spin the story any way we want.  The more I hear about this guy, the more I cringe.  That is one issue.  The other is how the PGC as a whole was painted in a very bad light.  That is what I object too.

Unfortunately that appearsd to be the way it is here in the old USA anymore....

One "bad apple" spoils the whole barrel...

Whjle that statement is basically true I often wonder why the "bad one" is not filtered out and more reported on that...

If this guysgot disciplined for his actions and the stroy of THAT made the press it would make for a good impression.... BUT when NOTHING is none and the folks in control ALWAYS take the side of the one doing the wrong thing THAT'S when the whole barrell looks and in time goes bad.

I read this thread some time ago, after I first came to this site and was browsing around. I decided not to comment on it at the time because it was so out dates. But, today I was browsing in the fishing forum and found more Bimber comments.  So I figured maybe I would post a few facts about what really happened in a couple of those incidents.

Why don’t we start with the incident about the girls standing around in their underwear.

WCO Bimber got involved in this incident when he was driving down the road and saw a guy a guy walking along the road in his underwear. I, WCO Bimber and everyone else pretty well knows there is nothing about that scene that indicates a Game Law violation but WCOs also enforce the Crimes Code. What kind of officer wouldn’t be expected to stop and find out what is going on with a scene like that. The Officer doesn’t know it this guy has just been mugged and needs help, if he has just been part of a rape scene or if perhaps someone is chasing him trying to kill him. The whole scene just begs of any responsible Officer stopping to find out what is going on and if someone desperately needs help.

Once he was stopped that guy and several other people took of running. Now the Officer has reason to believe some crime has been committed but still has no idea what that crime is. Did they just murder someone, or since there now hear a girl screaming something the suspicions of a rape become escalated. Now do we think a uniformed officer should investigate further or since he didn’t see anyone dragging a deer he should just jump back in his vehicle and move on? What would you want him to do if your daughter wasn’t home in her bed and might be that girl they hear yelling?

They cautiously proceed to where the girl is only to find there are several girls and they too are in their underwear and everyone has been drinking and swimming. Ok, now we know that there is no murder or rape occurring but half of the people that had been there ran off and no one seems to know where. Now the officer has another dilemma. The girls can’t get dressed or even get in their car to keep warm because their clothes are all in a locked car belonging to one of the boys that ran off with the his car keys. So is this the point where he should have said oh well I guess this doesn’t involve the Game Commission and go on his way? But, oh wait a minute there is still more he needs to take into consideration about the safety of those girls. They are all under age and all are very drunk. They are so drunk they aren’t cold and refuse the Officer’s request that they sit in his truck, by them selves mind you, to stay warm and without being a spectacle. But, guess what the girls are too drunk to like that idea, and instead want to have their picture taken with the WCO. Thankfully the WCO didn’t allow that and instead made every effort to get the State Police their to take control of the situation so he could leave without having to worry about a bunch of drunk kids ending up dead before the night was over.

I guess most of those facts never made it to the news media, probably because that doesn’t create the hype that they got by bashing he WCO and Game Commission.

I don’t know this Officer well at all and have had very few interactions with him other then one incident he helped me with in bear season a number of years ago and my interest in finding gout the real facts surrounding some of the rumors I have heard or seen in the media.

As for the bear incident it was actually WCO Bimber that dug up the evidence that saved a guy from getting cited for killing a bear in a den in my district. There had been a little bit of snow in the morning but most of it had melted by mid day. We found out that a group of guys had come out and got rope and other stuff needed to dig a large dead bear out from under a mass of tree roots. That sure sounds like a den doesn’t it? Well WCO Bimber meet these guys at the Marienville check station and escorted them back to my district where I meet them to see what they had to say. The story was that one of them had hit the bear in the morning and then tracked it until he got another shot at it and then on to where it went into this hole in the ground. At this hole under the roots I found three spent rifle casings and blood all over the inside of the hole in the ground that clearly showed the bear had been killed in that den. When I asked about that the hunter told me that after the bear went into the hole he could see it in their but knowing it was wounded shot it inside the hole in the ground and then got help to get it out.

While I was collecting evidence needed to arrest this guy WCO Bimber was following up on the guys story about  the bear having been wounded before it went into this hole under the roots. The snow was almost all gone and I figured it was hopeless but after a while WCO Bimber came back with a spent casing that matched the guys gun and had found a few drops of blood on the leaves.

WCO Bimber might be hard line when it comes to arresting people in violation of the law but he has also proven that he will work just as hard to prove a person isn’t in violation too, even when the evidence was clearly their that could have easily been used to convict the guy. That guy got to keep his trophy and avoided being charged because of WCO Bimber. Does that sound like the out of control officer people like to accuse him of? I have heard many stories told about me and just about every other WCO that did have even a shred of truth to them. I have had people tell me, while I was in civilian cloths, about how I arrested them, for some of the most horrific things, even though it was proven that I had never even had an incident with them and they had never met me before. People lie about WCOs pretty frequently, in fact probably more often then they tell the truth about them.

I rather suspect the biggest fault people can really find with WCO Bimber is that he has the audacity to issue citations to people that violated the laws but didn’t want to pay the penalty or think that they are above the laws because of their station in life or the community.  Perhaps his biggest fault in the eyes of some public is that he has refused to become corrupt and turn his head when he catches people that thought they were above the law.

I seriously suspect that if people really knew the truth about some of those stories most of them would be proud to walk beside WCO Bimber instead of running around spreading unfounded rumors about him.

Dick Bodenhorn