Posted on 01/03/2012 8:12:35 AM PST by bamahead
CHARLTON (CBS) A Charlton mom says her local library crossed the line when they sent police to collect her daughters overdue library books.
Her mom says the 5-year-old girl was so afraid that she burst into tears.
Charlton Police Sergeant Dan Dowd stopped by the home of Shannon Benoit to let her know that her daughter had two books several months overdue which needed to be returned or paid for.
I thought it was way overboard, says Benoit. I closed my door, I looked at my daughter and she started crying.
Hailey asked her mom if the police were going to arrest her. Hailey says, I was scared.
--SNIP--
Even Sgt. Dowd admits he wasnt real keen on it.
Nobody wanted to, on this end to get involved in it, says Sgt. Dowd. But the library contacted us, and the chief delegated, and apparently I was one of the low men on the totem pole.
But state law does outline a misdemeanor for such things, and police thought a friendly reminder might make a better impression and get better results than a cold summons to court.
The Benoits insist they never got any warnings.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.cbslocal.com ...

Guess the cops don’t have anything to do there.
Ahh, grow up Missy. At least they didn’t shoot your dog.
(is a sarc tag really necessary?)
Well, they have the whole murder, rape, burglary, and theft thing under control so they have time to go after the real hard core criminals.
bet the Chief isn’t too happy with him now
Because he didn’t shoot any dogs?
Partly that but also because she wasn’t detained indefinitely and placed permanently on the no-fly list because she’s now classified as a domestic terrorist.
What, no SWAT team?
Was it because the books were overdue or that a 5-yr old can read. We’ll have none of that - how insensitive to the 16 yr olds!
next time...
“Some where there’s a kid who wants to read The Cat in the Hat and the Five Chinese Brothers without pictures of doo doo’s and wee wee’s drawn on the pages.”
Everyone has to look in the mirror - especially those who bring 5 yr olds to the library.
Not much goes on in Charlton
Library Police = Busy Work I guess
(hey, better than pulling people over for going 5 miles over the speed limit :>)
Renew or return library books on time.
End of story.
My mother taught me to read when I was four years old. And this was before Your Baby Can Read.
2) The town has the obligation to protect the taxpayer's investment in library books. (I'm guessing that once this news story hit the wires, several overdue library books around the country got returned.)
I guess SOME hammerheads miss the point. Those hammerheads who do need only look at themselves in the mirror to find out who they are.
How hard is it to return a library book!? One can return them anytime of the day or night. Next time teach your young daughter some responsibility and return the books on time.
Library Police =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Was his name ‘Bookman’?
Does he take his job seriously?
Well if the library would have notified the parents wouldn’t they be breaking the law about parents wanting to know what their children are reading?
I did like the comment about the REAL reason being she was embarassing the 16 yo’s because she could read at 5 - Plus, she must have had a library card.
Oh, isn’t a library card a type of contract?
I thought minors couldn’t be held to a contract.
Lets get Judy on the case.
So many questions, so little time.
I love it when one of the Liberal points is in conflict with another.
"That government is best that governs least."
“I’ve got a flash for your joy boy! You got seven days. That is one week”
LOLOLOL
As my Mom used to say, “Obey the law ... or you’ll go to prison and be raped.”
DO they even give a 5-year-old a library card there? I know my kids at some point got “library cards”, but I was responsible for them and I was the one that got the notices if they had overdue books.
Sounds to me like the parent is trying to shirk responsibility by using her 5-year-old as a human shield.
Heres a hint for the mom,,return the books,,,,duh
1) I don't believe them. Of course they got notices from the library.
2) What do you think the policeman was doing? You weren't arrested. It was a warning... Duh!
“The 5 YO is NOT the one responsible for the books, the parents are.”
Actually, in my little town, the Library will not tell you what book your child has neglected to return.
They just want you to pay.
I have issues with this system.
They did..
“They found and returned the books,”
Also...
“The Benoits insist they never got any warnings.”
Not saying it’s true. But that is what they stated..
Good point, but...
As an owner of rental property, I know that there are MANY people who specifically don't own property in their name, and don't care about their horrible credit ratings and go about life ripping off one person after another leaving them with no recourse.
Our library doesn’t do any kind of “official” notifications. You find out when you go to check out other books. I have an advantage, a friend is a library volunteer so she always reminds me if any of us have anything overdue.
Exactly. How hard is it to return books? What is this moron teaching her child about responsibility and about being considerate of others who may want to borrow those books?
I raised 4 children. Whenever we went to the library, I marked the books’ due date on my calendar along with the number of books we were to return. I also had a basket dedicated to library books, and my sons knew that they were to place the books in there after they had read them.
While the cops were chasing down that dreaded criminal book ‘thief’, who “stole” what ?....a five dollar Jack and Jill picture-story book, illegal aliens were probably raping little boys in the next block. And, by now, Holder would have already provided the illegals with a team of FEDERAL defense lawyers.
Heck...I’m not perfect when it comes to the library. I got a email notice yesterday that I had 5 five books due THAT day. I went online and tried to renew them. Only 3 renewed because there were holds on the other 2. So...
I’ll take those 2 in today or tomorrow...AND pay the overdue fine. My fault, my consequence.
When we absconded from NYC, my mother had my twin and & drop off a steamer trunk full of books at the library.
Hey, I was 10! The thing was heavy! LOL!
Luckily, we then left the country.
Recently read that Ben Franklin owes a couple of hundred grand in NYC library fees.
Oh well, Mom is in good company!
You’re a trip, pal!
Happy New Year to you and the clan, hope you had great holidays.
HNY. Gabz. Knees are sore - spent the weekend rock climbing with the kids.
I am too old for this. ;)
Of course, my 72-YO father keeps showing me up - I am going to slap that jerk. LOL.
Fantastic to know that crime has been eradicated in Boston and the police now have time to collect on overdue library books..............
What a bunch of assclowns............

The racial makeup of the town was 98.08% White, 0.46% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.98% of the population.As of December 2009, there were 13,745 residents.
> Library Police = Busy Work I guess
> (hey, better than pulling people over for going 5 miles over the speed limit :>)
In October 2009 I was pulled over and given a speeding ticket for doing 34 mph in a 30 mph zone. The idiot cop actually wrote “a high rate of speed” in the comments part of the ticket. It cost me $140, a day of vacation for the appearance, and an unknown increase in my insurance for the next 5 years.
Yea, maybe picking up a phone and calling the folks with the overdue library book instead of the cops would be in order.
Doesn’t look to be near Boston, either.
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