Woman Ticketed For Sitting On Park Bench Without Kids

WNBC Television ^ | 9/27/2005 | Puppage

[Graybeard58]

So it's another "men only" law...they just aren't allowed to say so? ;)

It's sad isn't it? There's a park across the street from my house that I walk in and occasionaly I even sit on one of the benches. I have observed when I am around, that parents seem to stay a little closer to their children. It makes me want to tell them, "Hey, your kids are a lot safer around me than around your minister, priest or teacher".

It's sad too that the simple pleasure of watching children play is now "suspect" behaviour, unless of course you are with a member of the femine gender.

[Puppage]

Consider, how else can one prevent a 'pervert' from sitting in the park and stalking a child while the parent is distracted?

Perverts only stalk in parks? If anything, this is a "feeeeeel good" ordinance.

[An.American.Expatriate]

And what if the "pervert" is laying on a blanket just outside the "playground" - this is just plain stupid - it is outrageous to punish innocent behavior (sitting on a bench at a playground) because "someone" might one day sit on that bench and intend to perform an illegal act.

What's next?? A rule stating that you may not be within eyesight of a children's playground unless accompanied by a child? A rule stating that you can't use a path which leads to a children's playground unless accompanied by a child?

[wolfcreek]

She should just tell them she's pregnant.

[Tolkien]

The ultimate crime.

[Sloth]

but a parks spokesman told the Daily News that the department hoped police would use some common sense when enforcing the rule.

Always a bad assumption. If everyone had common sense, you wouldn't need rules in the first place.

[CarolinaPeach]

Hmmmmm, so...to prevent stalkers from doing their thing in a park, we target childless bench sitters. But, to prevent men from the Middle East who are radical islamists from doing their thing, we target everyone except them for "random" airport security checks. Okay. Got it.

[wideawake]

Police see everyone as a criminal, except themselves of course.

Yes, the police should stop generalizing about entire groups of people, wouldn't you agree?

[wideawake]

There was actually a big problem a few years back because pedophiles in NYC, banned from loitering around schoolyards, libraries and public pools, began hanging out in city parks.

When cops confronted them, arrested them, etc. the ACLU and NAMBLA launched lawsuits against the city because there were no state laws regarding public parks unlike the other venues I mentioned.

So the city was forced to institute this rule for public parks in order to bar pedophiles from them.

If the ACLU can get enough examples of childless adults hanging out in public parks, they can sue the city for civil rights violations regarding selective enforcement.

[Roccus]

I knew I should have said 'fascist' instead of 'liberal' right after I hit 'post.' {:^(

[Hatteras]

"The city parks department said the rule is designed to keep pedophiles out of city parks, but a parks spokesman told the Daily News that the department hoped police would use some common sense when enforcing the rule. "

"The spokesman told the newspaper that ticketing a woman in the park in the middle of the day is not the way you want to enforce the rule."

Well pedophiles wouldn't hang out on a park bench in the middle of the night when all the kids are at home asleep, would they?

[BadAndy]

"Sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent.
Snot running down his nose
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run.
Feeling like a dead duck
spitting out pieces of his broken luck."

Perfect theme music for the KKKlinton Liebrary.

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

Just another way for a municipality to make money. It's all about the money.

[monday]

"So, one would ask 'why' such a law exists."

No doubt it was passed with the best of intentions, but the reality is to penalize people who have not molested anyone. Society begins to get outcomes like this whenever laws are passed that require punishment for presumed intentions or thoughts. It requires "thought police" to enforce the laws because they are the only ones who can read minds and thereby determine guilt.

The people who passed this law assumed that every adult that sat on the park bench without a child would be a child molester. It's a silly assumption and this is the logical outcome.

A better solution would be to fine parents who let their young children play in the park without supervision. It is the parents job to safeguard their children, not the states. If left to the state, your children will never be safe.

[monday]

"She must have put up a fight that got her a ticket. I can't imagine the cops just wouldn't have had her move along."

lol... Why would you assume that? Perhaps you are trying to be sarcastic?

[R. Scott]

Now if it had been a 47 year old guy........

Of course – everyone know there is no such thing as a female pedophile.

[R. Scott]

Police see everyone as a criminal, except themselves of course.

A result of the “us vs them” attitude.
Shortly after retiring from the US Army, I attended classes with local police officers. Even the rookies used the term “civilian” as a derogatory word for anyone not a cop. Being as I was the only student not a cop, I reveled in using the term to denote the cops – as they were not military.

[Wuli]

That's the entire problem with laws that cannot be written with a precise definition of what constitutes "breaking the law", without the offense being defined far too broadly. Far too many innocents are caught in its web. Police become judges deciding who they will and who they will not arrest, among many individuals who, by definition, are "breaking the law".

Such laws are not needed. Better, targeted, periodic police surveilance is; along with parental surveilance and supervision.

The nanny state is not a replacement for personal, parental responsibitity. The result, as this incident shows, is the loss of liberty for everyone.

[OB1kNOb]

"She should just tell them she's pregnant."

LOL! I'm pinging you when I need a quick comeback from now on. Good one.

[wtc911]

Read the article...the sign is outside a "playground" on the lower east side. The intent is to create an oasis for parents with small children.

As for the ticketed person being a woman, how many times a year do you read of a woman stealing a small child to fill an empty place in her life.

Parents do have the primary responsibility but not all parents are responsible 100% of the time. That's the reality. This code helps protect the children who had the misfortune of being born to that sort of individual.