Published: May 10, 2008 03:17 pm            

It couldn't happen here

Carlos Verissimo admits he drove through a red light. But he was in a funeral procession, and a Philadelphia police officer was standing in the intersection waving him and the rest of the cars in the procession through. Further, Pennsylvania law says cars in a funeral procession may proceed through a stop sign or red light. So why did he get a ticket from a red light camera at the intersection? That’s what he asked city officials, who told him to contact the company that processes the tickets. The company told him to ask city officials. Only after a local TV station ran a story on his plight did Philadelphia officials rescind the ticket.

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School officials in Florence, Ariz., discovered an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl had put together a “death list” of several students, teachers and the creator of Barney the Dinosaur. Officials admit they don’t think the two intended to hurt anyone. But they suspended them and brought in police for extra security anyway.

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The police in Wausau, Wis., apparently believe that whenever teens gather together there must be drinking. They recently raided a party being held at a local home, forcing about 90 teens to take breathalyzer tests. Local reports say they even searched the home, looking for teens who might be hiding from them. Those same reports don’t mention anything about warrants. So how many of the young men and women tested positive for booze? None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. “It was a tremendous waste of time and manpower,” admits Police Chief Daniel Joling. “But we still had a job to do.”

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A woman says Victor Emmer spoke to her children at three events over several days at public events near El Dorado Hills, Calif. Obviously, if a man speaks to children, he must be up to no good. So she called police. And they A) Questioned him. B) Warned him to stay away from public events with children. C) Arrested him for loitering near children. They chose to arrest him. That was over a month ago, but the district attorney still hasn’t formally charged Emmer with a crime. In fact, he says they don’t have sufficient evidence to charge Emmer, who has no criminal record, with anything. But the police did apparently have enough to get his name and face plastered all over local newspapers and TV when he got arrested and they begged people to come forward if they’d spotted him talking to other children.

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Each year, the Mandeville, La., Police Citizen Service Fund raises money to buy money for needy children at Christmas. It spends money on other charitable deeds, but the main thrust of its fundraising promotions is the “Toys for Tots” program, reports the Times-Picayune newspaper. But state auditors have started asking just how much it spends for toys. The newspaper found the fund spent just $114 on toys in 2005 and nothing in 2006. Meanwhile, the newspaper found the fund, which is administered by the chief, regularly spends thousands of dollars on gift cards for police officers, city staff and elected officials and for fruit baskets for officers, staff City Council members and their families.

        

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