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Police bust lemonade stand in Pennsylvania
United Press International ^ | 7/19/09 | UPI

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 ...


TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: cops; donutwatch; leo; lping; nosyneighbor; pennsylvania; police; policestate
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To: Nate505
"Those damn kids were breaking the law! It's one small step from lemonade to robbing old ladies' purses to shooting up convenience stores. Don't you dare criticize my decision. You don't know what it's like!" /s
41 posted on 07/22/2009 10:37:16 AM PDT by Rodebrecht (If everybody just left everybody else alone, everybody would be a lot happier.)
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To: coconutt2000

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?


42 posted on 07/22/2009 1:08:37 PM PDT by abc1
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To: abc1

>>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.


43 posted on 07/22/2009 1:11:48 PM PDT by swarthyguy (MEAT, the new tobacco. Your right to eat meat ends where my planetary ecosystem begins.)
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To: staytrue
"I think the kids were lucky the SWAT team wasn’t called in."

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.

44 posted on 07/22/2009 1:13:49 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: GovernmentShrinker
If I see young children doing door to door sales, I’m calling the police too.

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.

45 posted on 07/22/2009 6:20:26 PM PDT by elkfersupper (Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: VicVega
The cop wanted kick backs from the kids. They said no and spit in his lemon-aid. So he shut them down,

No donuts, no stand. Sheesh, how can the kids 'comp' a donut if they don't stock them?

46 posted on 07/22/2009 6:27:04 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Smokin' Joe

LOL. Now that is funny.

Lucky the kids didn’t get cracked over the head with the cops baton.


47 posted on 07/22/2009 6:33:40 PM PDT by VicVega (Join Jihad, get captured by the US and resettled in the best places in the world. I love the USA)
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To: GovernmentShrinker
If I see young children doing door to door sales, I’m calling the police too. It’s dangerous for young children to be going around to strangers’ houses with an adult accompanying them, and someone who sees them has no way of knowing whether their parents are aware they’re doing this.

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...

48 posted on 07/22/2009 6:42:17 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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