Posted on 07/20/2009 10:20:20 PM PDT by Rodebrecht
CHESTER, Pa., July 19 (UPI) -- The deputy police chief in Haverford Township, Pa., says a police officer's decision to shut down a lemonade stand run by children was a misunderstanding.
Deputy Chief John F. Viola said the officer shut down a lemonade stand run by seven children because the young entrepreneurs were allegedly peddling their refreshments to residents by visiting their homes, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday.
Viola said the lemonade stand visit by the officer, whose identity was not released, was prompted by a call from a concerned neighbor.
"We all sold lemonade when we were kids," Viola said. "We all went, like, who calls (police) on kids?"
Viola said while peddling without a license is illegal in Haverford Township, those laws do not apply to children under the age of 16.
The deputy chief defended the responding officer over the July 10 mix-up, saying he was simply acting on available information.
"The police officer would have no way of knowing this on the street," Viola told the Inquirer.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Is the problem police or the preponderance of inane and frivolous rules, regulations and laws put in place by a society of people who eschew the basic responsibility to getting along with each in a reasonable manner?
>>the preponderance of inane and frivolous rules, regulations and laws put in place by a society of people who eschew the basic responsibility to getting along with each in a reasonable manner?
We need a law against the likes of you.
How dare you question the Safety Uber Alles foundation of our modern society.
Think if they had been selling household chemicals as a joke.
Since the kids didn't have their pet dachsund with them SWAT was not required. The officer was recognized for the tremendous judgment and restraint he exercised in not tasing the offenders.
We had people like you in our neighborhood when I was growing up.
We tormented them with toilet paper and strings across the street tied to their screen doors.
Hello, Mrs. Grundy.
No donuts, no stand. Sheesh, how can the kids 'comp' a donut if they don't stock them?
LOL. Now that is funny.
Lucky the kids didn’t get cracked over the head with the cops baton.
Two observations.
One. Your neighborhood must really suck. We know all the kids, their parents, and will call the parents if the kids are off doing something they maybe shouldn't, and will tell them to stop, ourselves, if it is dangerous--before even making the call.
It works for all of us.
Two. I'd be thankful for any parent calling ME if the kids are doing something they shouldn't be.
As far as getting the police (unnecessarily) involved, no.
Not only does it turn police into grade-school hall monitors, but I'd prefer to have it be a parent-to-parent thing, rather than have gobs of paperwork and maybe even social services involved in some tempest in a teapot, and tying up resources which could be better put to use in the community.
Why advocate turning over basic parental functions, including the 'grapevine' to official agencies, just handle it yourselves.
I guess the Girl Scouts don't sell cookies in your 'hood...
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