Woman Arrested for Not Watering Lawn

[jumar]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1444771

[quote]Woman Arrested for Not Watering Lawn
July 6th, 2007 @ 10:00pm
Sam Penrod Reporting

A widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn't watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance.

Tonight, the woman says she is traumatized and shocked that she was hauled to jail, just because she says she can't afford to water her lawn.



Betty Perry says, "I never thought they would ever do anything like that to a person that is 70 years old. I've never bothered anybody, I've never hurt anybody."

She says the policeman who brought her home tonight was very courteous, even held open the door for her. But there were no gentlemen there when she was taken from her home this morning and booked into jail.

When Betty Perry heard a knock at her door and saw a police officer standing outside, she never imagined she would end up in jail. That's what happened, though, when the officer tried enforcing Orem's nuisance ordinance against neglected yards.



"I didn't want to tell him anything until I talked to a lawyer or my son. I wanted to see what he'd tell me to do. I've never had any experience before with the law, ever in my life," she said.

As the enforcement officer started writing her a ticket, she tried going back in her house. That's when the officer tried to handcuff her for refusing to give her name and resisting the ticket. She tripped on the steps, scraping up her nose and elbows, leaving blood on her door, her porch and her clothes. Perry was handcuffed, fingerprinted and put in a jail cell, where she sat for more than an hour.

"I laid down in there. I never seen the inside of a jail before. I didn't know how it looked, I was really scared," she says.

When police brass learned what happened, she was immediately released.

Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards said, "Every officer in his career has situations they find themselves getting into, at the end of it they scratch their head and say,

[JP]

She was arrested and brought in for not giving up her ID

[rockgremlin]

Typical cops....

[JP]

Typical cops....

Laws are laws made by lawmakers, not cops. They just enforce the laws that are on the books

[rockgremlin]

A different article mentioned that this cop was reprimanded for his actions. Regardless of the laws, cops should know when it is appropriate to enforce or not enforce those laws. Beating up and then arresting an old woman because she wouldn't produce ID is definitely NOT appropriate!

I realize that there are some great cops out there, but from what I've seen, most of them have a superiority complex.

[jumar]

I realize that there are some great cops out there, but from what I've seen, most of them have a superiority complex.

I've seen the exact inverse

[JP]

Regardless of the laws, cops should know when it is appropriate to enforce or not enforce those laws.

Again, cops enforce laws that are on the books. If the law is not appropriate, lawmakers should rescind those laws. If you have ever read how these lawmakers write laws, they are very black and white.

[rockgremlin]

So you believe the cop was justified in beating up and arresting an old lady for not watering her lawn? I bet your opinion would be different if that old woman were your mom.

[jumar]

Obviously there's some laws that have some flexibility with their level of enforcement. One doesn't always get a ticket when pulled over for speeding, for example...

[derstuka]

Regardless of the laws, cops should know when it is appropriate to enforce or not enforce those laws.

Again, cops enforce laws that are on the books. If the law is not appropriate, lawmakers should rescind those laws. If you have ever read how these lawmakers write laws, they are very black and white.

I don't think anybody is questioning that lawmakers make the laws, only that a police officer has to assess the situation and use his better judgement. A 70 year old lady who refuses to "water her lawn" doesn't justify doing what he did. As the cops agency stated, he had other options available. He isn't doing anything but hurting a cop's image by doing what he did. If she had threatened him with an axe, or something major, or had a warrant out for her arrest, then bring her in to jail.

[rockgremlin]

A 70 year old lady who refuses to "water her lawn" doesn't justify doing what he did. As the cops agency stated, he had other options available. He isn't doing anything but hurting a cop's image by doing what he did. If she had threatened him with an axe, or something major, or had a warrant out for her arrest, then bring her in to jail.

Exactly!

[Sombeech]

What a joke.

I need an emoticon of somebody bowing their head, putting their hand to their forehead, then shaking their head back and forth in disgust.

[JP]

Where exactly does it say he beat her up? And it could all be summed up like this; if she just did what the law was asking she would be fighting a ticket in court No handcuffs, no falling down, no trip to jail

[stefan]

And it could all be summed up like this; if she just did what the law was asking she would be fighting a ticket in court No handcuffs, no falling down, no trip to jail

uh huh ... whatever



basically this woman had the right idea (although financial reasoning was her motive). utahns needs to stop wasting precious water on their laws for pete's sake. if only someone had the foresight ...

i say this woman should be given a medal

orem ordinances? isn't that utah's famous conservative town. "family city, usa" ... sure know how to treat old ladies ... bah

[JP]

uh huh ... whatever

utahns needs to stop wasting precious water on their laws for pete's sake.

Right back at ya

And I would agree on the law being a little ridiculous since water conservation always seems to be an issue.

[snatch]

police dispatch logs say that the officer radioed the code "in hot pursuit of a suspect" before arresting grandma. i'll bet the pursuit was real hot.

[rockgremlin]

police dispatch logs say that the officer radioed the code "in hot pursuit of a suspect" before arresting grandma. i'll bet the pursuit was real hot.

See what I mean? That's the kind of jackass mentality that I have come to expect from cops thesedays. It's like they don't have any kind of discretion.

[rockgremlin]

:UPDATE:

Mayor Apologizes; Owner of Brown Lawn Wants to Move
July 10th, 2007 @ 12:45pm
OREM, Utah (AP) A woman who was injured and arrested during a struggle with a police officer over her brown lawn said she wants to move. "Since this has happened, I don't want to live in Orem anymore," Betty Perry said Monday. "I know now that I'll never see another winter" in the Utah County city.

Perry, 70, refused to give her name to an officer who visited Friday to issue a ticket for failing to take care of her front yard. She fell and hurt her nose as he tried to arrest her.

Perry was taken to a jail, where she spent more than an hour before officials decided custody was inappropriate. The officer, whose name has not been released, was suspended.

"What happened was not the way that we prefer to do business," Lt. Doug Edwards said. "But clearly she did some things that were wrong, too, in not just saying her name."

Mayor Jerry Washburn apologized to Perry. He said city law requires residents to maintain their yards and keep them free of junk, but few tickets have been issued for brown lawns.

He said the officer who was at Perry's house belonged to a unit that typically deals with drug houses and other illegal activity in neighborhoods. "That is not our policy to go around and enforce green lawns," the mayor said.

Perry said she can't afford to water her grass. "I want people to know that this is not American to handcuff and put somebody in jail because their lawn is brown," she said.



HA!HA! That dumbass officer got suspended.

[Sombeech]

HA!HA! That dumbass officer got suspended.

Hey, what happened to the paid vacation these guys get when they screw up?

I'm glad he detained her in a hurry. She was a hazard to society.

[Sombeech]

utahns needs to stop wasting precious water on their laws for pete's sake.

This confirms that Utahns cannot think for themselves.....