Don't the police have more pressing concerns?

Post Reply New Topic

slate.com

Amusing, but sad. DIY concerts can't be the biggest threat to public safety in Boston...

Seems like they must be pretty crime free. Kind of reminds me of the stories of police shutting down lemonade stands because the children don't have a permit to sell food/beverage.

This only went to 2010, and I guess the rates have come down slightly. In a city of 600,000 people, I really think this is a complete waste of resources.

I must be a dangerous criminal then... but then again this was never really in doubt.

It creates problems with noise ordinances, intoxicated people in public, fights/disorderly conduct, lewd conduct, vandalism, theft, and traffic/parking problems. My mom grew up close to a major legit concert venue and frequently had these problems. It could only be worse in places that are not equipped to handle a crowd.

I know, that is why 100 died in the Station fire, the NIMBY neighbours pressured them into putting up that flammable soundproofing that they themselves sold them and then watched fire take care of their problem.

I was thinking more like what about coordinating their efforts to hold a couple festivals a year at suitable locations that can accommodate it and won't piss off the cops? Residential zones typically aren't a good spot for holding concerts.

As the fuzz must use subterfuge to seek out to destroy these events instead of being drawn there through noise complaints it's clear that this is not an issue...

Breaking up a crowd once it forms is a lot harder.

That's not quite as petty as it sounds. The point of those permits is to ensure food safety standards are being followed. Were they followed by those children? Maybe, but who knows - the risk is not worth taking. The actual risk from them was probably very low, but where do police draw the line between enforcing the standards prescribed in law and not? It's not just children, either. There was a story a few months ago in Australia where women from a country town cooked some really nice food for firefighters fighting bushfires in their region, which was rejected. The reason was that it was not cooked in a commercial kitchen and therefore they could not be sure that safety standards were followed. Again, sounds harsh, but how would you like to be the fire authority boss who had to explain to the media that the bushfire is now completely out of control, because his entire team is sick with food poisoning? It was a risk they just couldn't afford to take.

I can understand that, but it seems really odd to send a police car over to a suburb in a kid's own yard to shut down a simple lemonade stand. From watching "Problem Child" I don't really trust those stands anyway, but it just seems wrong. Stories about a couple feeding the homeless and getting closed down for not having a permit, people suing their rescuer because they didn't want to be rescued, burglars suing the people they steal from because they tripped and suffered injury while robbing them. It just seems counter-intuitive and very confusing that their efforts and time couldn't be put toward more productive efforts. For instance, my town's police department was given new "Charger" police cars, but meth runs rampant and the people get off easy or teach others how to make it in jail.

There are effective ways to break up a crowd.
Some are very effective......

Yes, a phone call to the parents would have probably been sufficient. I agree with your general point that police often don't use their resources effectively. (They wouldn't be the only ones.)

As for the lawsuits - by "sue" do you mean "file a lawsuit" or "win a lawsuit"? There's a big difference. Contrary to popular belief, judges are not stupid and ridiculous lawsuits are rarely successful.

Of the two cases I mentioned I read about both from local news as interesting news from around the US. I can't find the one about the burglar, but I believe it was due to a law in a western state where you were responsible for the safety of others while they were on your property and I think they passed it for the sake of upholding that law. The case of the rescuer getting sued by the recued was dealing with a severe car accident and a coworker removed them from the car because they thought it might burst into flame, and sued because they claimed they were unqualified to remove them and they did not wish to be removed. Here is a link for the second one: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19 ... amaritan19

I personally feel the county law enforcement and judges here are fairly inept and often rely on their opinion vs law. Probably the main issue that changed my mind on their capabilities/motives was when I was called out of my house and found myself at gunpoint being questioned by two of them, and they had the completely wrong address... The event bothered me for a week or more. There are a few in particular that I respect for their logic/intelligence/morals, but mostly I don't trust them much. I have more respect for the city police overall and actually helped them make arrests from theives at my workplace.

the fuzz knows that when the crowd is big enough it is unstoppable, that's why they took action to prevent the crowd from becoming too large last 15 March...

Still, no crowd of that size develops for a simple show.