Posted on 10/19/2006 7:25:52 AM PDT by Froufrou
If you catch someone smoking in a non-smoking area in Omaha, Neb., call the police. The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is encouraging city residents to call 911 in the wake of the citywide ban on smoking that went into effect on Oct. 2.
Teresa Negron, sergeant in charge of public information of the OPD, explained that the department encourages observers of infractions to pick up the phone to report the infraction -- just like they would for any other crime they observe being committed.
"Citizens or business owners that observe a violation to the smoking ban are urged to call 911 and report the violation," Negron told Cybercast News Service. "[It's like] any other crime that happens in any city -- if somebody sees a crime happen, they can call 911 and report it."
Negron did not necessarily endorse immediately calling 911 but still saw it as a viable option.
"What I would recommend for people to do is bring it to the attention of the management, and if that doesn't stop, then obviously contact us, and we'll respond and we'll handle it," she said.
However, the calls are not high priority.
"The first week, we had maybe 10 calls in the entire city," said Negron. "Calls concerning the smoking ban were not high-priority calls, so we have a system in place that calls that come in and have a higher priority will be handled."
The penalty is a citation and fee for individuals caught violating the ban -- $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second and $500 for the third and subsequent offenses, according to a summary of the city ordinance posted online.
"Obviously, they would receive a citation for violating the smoking ordinance," said Negron.
According to some, however, the new law will encourage people to become "snitches."
"I think that it's one thing for people to monitor themselves," said Amy Kauffman, research fellow for the Hudson Institute. "It's another thing to ask people to monitor their friends, neighbors and cohorts. It is turning people into snitches."
Kauffman called this "a horrible thing" and a waste of city resources.
"To use 911 for this purpose goes against what 911 is designated for. It is an emergency service. These are not emergencies," Kauffman said.
She further classified the situation as over the top.
"To take 911, which is supposed to respond to someone within I guess one to three minutes, and use it for this and to clog the lines with busybodies phoning in on their neighbors is ridiculous."
Mark Welsch, president of the Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution (GASP) of Nebraska, disagrees.
"It's not an over-reaction, it's a good use of our city resources" that are being squandered on smokers, according to Welsch.
"I think about 13 percent of our total Medicaid expenses are caused by tobacco," Welsch said. "So, I'm paying too much. I don't want to subsidize tobacco use in my state. We should have just enough to break even. For next year, we would have to raise the tobacco tax by about 50 cents per pack -- just to break even."
Smoking isn't the only problem that needs fixing to trim down the costs, Welsch said. There's also a problem with food consumption that needs attention.
"We're such a fat country, by and large. Somebody needs to do something, or our Medicaid and Medicare costs are just going to continue to go up and up, not just because of smoking, but because of people being overweight and too lethargic to take their butts outside and walk," said Welsch.
Kauffman noted that smoking is not good for your health but insisted that 911 calls are not the answer.
"Smoking has been proven to be bad for one's health," she said. "But I really think that sometimes, these people go a little bit too far. It is a trend, but this is different because not only is it a trend where they're saying 'no smoking,' but now they're asking people to actually phone in and report other people."
insanity ping
What a great way to squander resources.
Is this a great country or what?
Murderers and rapists of Omaha,take note.If there are enough of those dastardly smokers wantonly breaking the law at the moment you decide to kill or rape,you just might get away with it.
What - are they going to roll out the fire dep't to put out the "fire"?
What's next? Bringing in a SWAT team because a man was seen carrying a bible?
"We're such a fat country, by and large. Somebody needs to do something"
So what's next? I see someone eating a bacon cheeseburguer and snitch on him too?!
Why does the picture come to mind of Gomer Pyle screaming "Citizen's Arrest....Citizen's Arrest" come to mind????
In NYC there is a separate 311 line to call for "quality of life" complaints.
Like if your neighbor is blasting his stereo at 3am on a Wednesday morning or if some clown has decided to doublepark a moving truck on a sidestreet blocking all traffic.
Great! Call 911 if someone's breaking into your house, and all the cops are all writing tickets on smokers. I guess revenue generation is Job 1.
I can see the story now;
"... the entire family was masscacred while on hold with 9/11 but the department did round up 3 dozen smokers at the same time."
A Person has a right to smoke if they are of age and desire to do so, but Another Person has the right to a smoke free environment and not have smoke blown in their face. Why would a smoker chose to smoke in a smoke free zone?
Bump
Smoking isn't the only problem that needs fixing to trim down the costs, Welsch said. There's also a problem with food consumption that needs attention.
What a commie control freak this guy is!
But is it a valid 'Offense" to squander 911 resorces and officers on?
Which goes a long way in explaining why there hasn't been an outright ban by now. The logical thing to do, given the intensity of the rhetoric on this issue, would be a ban. But, you can't control the sheeple with a ban.
I agree completely; this is a personal freedom issue -- and a control issue on the part of the governement ala 1938 Germany. Spooky.
What jackasses. If someone calls 911 to report a smoker, will the police roll code 3?
Can't wait to hear about a house fire or heart attack patient who gets a 911 busy signal because of this issue.
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