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Boris Godunov
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Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:20
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First, cop-bashing is easy. It's a lot harder to see the good things that the police do to keep everyone safe. It's pretty childish to start complaining about a cop doing his job.
Ozzy, ingorance of the law is no excuse. I, frankly, don't relish the idea of having people driving to New York and then sleeping in their cars. It would be a major problem. Should you be allowed just to plop your ass down on any city sidewalk and sleep?
I grew up in Salisbury, MD, on the Eastern Shore and went to school near Ocean City, so I'm well-acquainted with the area. If you knew the huge problems they have had in the past with seedy elements, you'd probably understand those rules a little better.
Rehoboth is a beautiful town, and the residents want to keep it that way. If they have the voting power and it's their community, tough sh*t, go somewhere else. Chances are that's exactly what they would want someone with your attitude towards authority to do.
Grow up a little and realize we live in a collective society. You're not going to like all the rules, but if you choose not to follow them, that's your responsibility.
Re Ocean City. Hehehe, I worked as a desk clerk at one of the more upscale hotels there during my summers between college semesters. I personally evicted several pot-smoking and underage people in our hotel, and was known as the "Tow King" for my uberzealousness in towing illegally parked cars from our lots. 
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David Floyd
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The bottom of a large bottle of beer
Jan 1970
time: 05:20
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Ozzy, you never have to show a cop your Social Security Card - it cannot legally be asked for as ID.
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Boris Godunov
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Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:20
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quote:
Originally posted by OzzyKP
What is "childish" about it? If unjust laws exist, and cops misuse their authority to harrass harmless travelers why is this beyond reproach? What kind of ridiculous statist are you that the police are beyond criticism? I'd like to see what you have to say if you ever get arrested for violating sodomy laws  . Cops just doing their job, right? |
I'm not talking about the cop abusing his authority, I'm talking about a cop acting within his authority. I've never expressed tolerance for abuse of authority.
How was this cop abusing his authority? You say he asked for your SS card because he didn't have a way to identify you. Why? Did you not have a license or some other I.D. on you?
You refer to yourself as a harmless traveler. How would he know you were harmless? Put yourself in a cop's shoes. Every day they get reports of stolen vehicles, escaped felons, fugitives, etc. So here he comes across a guy sleeping in his car near a resort with lots of hotels and motels. What if this guy is a fugitive, some escaped psycho murderer? Maybe he's sleeping in his car to avoid showing his face at motels, thus being I.D.'ed by townspeople. So of course the cop is going to bust you (for, we might add, doing something illegal, which is his job).
I would not blame a cop for enforcing sodomy laws if I were being stupid and doing such a thing in a public place where a cop could see me. But if he illegally enters my home and then tries to arrest me, fine, he's overstepped his authority.
I blame the laws for being unjust and I deplore cops who abuse their power. But I will sure not be stupid enough to get caught in places where such laws exist, nor blame a cop for enforcing the laws.
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David Floyd
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The bottom of a large bottle of beer
Jan 1970
time: 05:20
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There ARE "ticket quotas" in some areas, although admittedly this isn't the norm.
Police officers also, though, tend to see themselves as a bit above the law - often times they would rather enforce law and order than protect individual rights, which I definitely see as a problem.
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David Floyd
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The bottom of a large bottle of beer
Jan 1970
time: 05:20
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quote:
Ticket quotas are entirely different than what he suggested... |
But certainly a problem, wouldn't you agree?
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Jack_www
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if it were not for the police, and laws we would live in total anarchy, and that would not be nice. I have never had any problem with the police. I would say sleeping in your car is very supicous to me, and if i were a cop i would like to know what the you are doing in a car at 4:00 sleeping. Also you dont know why they have the laws they do. It is usually the result of people doing stupid things.
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Sprayber
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Dixie
Oct 2000
time: 23:20
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Oh yeah, I forgot to add that the Arkansas Legislature had to pass a law that forbid a city or town from collecting more than 30% of its revenue from tickets.
http://www.memphisflyer.com/backiss...ue417/cr417.htm
quote:
Is Gilmore a Speed-Trap? Audit Says Yes
by Phil Campbell
ACCORDING TO A STATE AUDIT, THE tiny town of Gilmore, Arkansas, is guilty of excessively ticketing motorists along Highway 63.
An auditing committee found that, in 1995, 56 percent of Gilmore's $210,887.49 budget came from speeding tickets and municipal court costs. In 1994, the town relied on fines 65 percent of the time. The results of an audit of Tyronza, also on Highway 63, were similar. Since both Gilmore and Tyronza are small towns with few streets, the majority of these fines apparently came from traffic violations along Highway 63, which links Memphis to Jonesboro and parts of northern Arkansas.
By comparison, Shelby County cities and suburbs only use speeding tickets as a small source of revenue. About 7 percent of Bartlett's annual revenue comes from speeding tickets and related fines. Speeding tickets from the Memphis Police Department account for a mere 2 percent of the city's overall budget.
The Flyer investigated Gilmore in September ("Speed Trap Blues," September 19th issue). At the time, state senator Jerry Bookout, representing Jonesboro, and the Jonesboro Sun were waging a war against the town's aggressive speeding-ticket policies. Bookout had noticed that out-of-state drivers were getting ticketed there at an alarming rate.
Two years ago, the Arkansas state legislature passed a law to punish towns that become speed traps. The bill provided that the Arkansas State Police had the authority to force communities such as Gilmore to stop issuing tickets on state highways if they made more than 30 percent of their revenue from traffic fines.
Unfortunately, the law wasn't clear enough, says Rick Hogan, the state's deputy attorney general. The state legislature is now wrestling with an amendment that will give a better definition of the word "highway." Attorney General Winston Bryant also noted in a legal opinion that it might not be fair to use 1994 audit figures to punish these towns because the speed-trap law did not exist then.
Senator Bookout, who pushed for the first law in 1995, says he feels vindicated over the results of the late-December audit. Now retired, Bookout and the Jonesboro Sun have been sharp critics of Gilmore Mayor Paul McClelland for issuing too many tickets along Highway 63. |
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Dr Strangelove
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I used to live in Maryland, and I have visited some of those beaches. many years ago Rehoboth managed to acquire an undisserved reputation as a "gay" beach thanks to a magazine article written by a fame hungry reporter. It began to attract visits from all amnner of unsavory types just trolling for a little bit of "the old ultraviolence". Since then local cops have been very touchy about vagrants. Remember though, that these are local ordinances, and they govern behavior on local publicly owned property.
What state are you going to dominate with a mere 20,000 supporters? Even Alaska has more than 100,000 in population.
I've always adopted the ultra respecting posture with cops too, but I've noticed that in the past 20 years it doesn't work as well. Face it, Andy ain't sheriff anymore.
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11-06-2002 06:21
If I was in a cop shoes I would be writing up tickets and busting crime.
) Rehoboth gets my vote as about the most anal place on the planet. Only place I've ever been hassled by the police.....for changing my kid's clothes in the bathroom, and I was pushing 40 at the time. We wanted a quiet, family type beach (NOT Ocean City) and went to Rehoboth for a day trip. No place to change, so we headed for the bathroom. We basicly got hassled becasue we were there for the day and not renting a place in town.
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