Police Raid Enthusiast Gathering,Generate Revenue

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Between and the farce called Canada the so called free world is going bye-bye......to protect us, you see.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936373/posts


I've been enjoying Steyn's weekly rantings in Maclean's. I hope he continues to intelligently insult those involved until this is over. It's such a joke. You'd think our government would have better things to do than attack free speech.

Because of all this, I do plan on reading "America Alone, The End of the World as We Know It" in the near future.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
You have renewed my faith in BITOG.


Yes. That good old spirit is alive and well. My cup of humanity runneth over.


I live in the former all time national cruising capital of the east coast. Pottstown PA was featured several times in Hot Rod and other mags in the 70's. We would get cars from 3 surrounding states here on a weekend.

Some misfits got too old and got in power ..and went about stifling the activity. Now we have a nice aged/decayed urban downtown that has about as much of a use as udders on a bull. They reconfigured the lanes and the parking ..and now the place is a ghost town after the evening traffic hours. No business has a need to stay open. The blight spreads.

What's funny is that, to bring attention to downtown, they have street rod days where they block off all of downtown and everyone brings their rods to show off. It brings crowds of people.

It does wonders for the French Fly vendor ..for that day.

 

[Oilgal]

Originally Posted By: XS650


It doesn't matter why there were 100 cops there acting like
Richard Craniums, the point is there were 100 cops there acting like Richard Craniums.

A fish rots from the head, when there are cops misbehaving it's usually because their management tolerates or encourages it.



Richard Craniums? I LOVE IT!

Preventative law enforcement is the hallmark of fascism.

We left California, because "that sort of thing", is the rule and not the exception.

 

[MarkC]

Everybody is evidently guilty of something....

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I think Chris(fill in numbers) from Apple Valley says that you need 10 acres to ride your own ATV on your own property. He only has 5 ..and ..it is, apparently, in the middle of nowhere.
the minimum is 40 acres to ride on your own property.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I think Chris(fill in numbers) from Apple Valley says that you need 10 acres to ride your own ATV on your own property. He only has 5 ..and ..it is, apparently, in the middle of nowhere.
the minimum is 40 acres to ride on your own property.


It just further goes to show you that it's not really your property, even if you "own" it.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I think Chris(fill in numbers) from Apple Valley says that you need 10 acres to ride your own ATV on your own property. He only has 5 ..and ..it is, apparently, in the middle of nowhere.
the minimum is 40 acres to ride on your own property.


I've heard of some stupid laws before - that one is the WORST. So only the rich land owners are rewarded....interesting "unexpected" consequence....

 

[toy4two]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I think Chris(fill in numbers) from Apple Valley says that you need 10 acres to ride your own ATV on your own property. He only has 5 ..and ..it is, apparently, in the middle of nowhere.
the minimum is 40 acres to ride on your own property.


I've heard of some stupid laws before - that one is the WORST. So only the rich land owners are rewarded....interesting "unexpected" consequence....


similar law just passed in San Diego, in order to drink on the beach you must own a multi million dollar property on the water, otherwise, "get off my lawn". I was fine for banning alcohol on big holidays, but there was no reason to punish the entire population for the actions of some college kids on Spring Break or July 4th. There were already laws on the books to deal with people who cause problems.

California started going down the toilet with the passage of Prop 13 in the late 1970s, I can't really blame the cops for all the [censored] tickets and creative fees their management forces on them, gotta make up for the lack of $ from property taxes. If you run a stop sign in NY its a $99 ticket, here in CA that same offense will run you $340.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
We had a law a while ago that made it illegal to travel through the same intersection more than 3x in a day. Was meant to dissuade "cruising". Was sporadically enforced... eg, only against those who offended people by "cruising".


Well, golly, why not ticket all the pizza delivery drivers in the land?!? Let's see, in an average night, I go through the same intersection about 8-10x, sometimes more. Hmm, the place I work for is right near an intersection with the area's main roads used to get to many points north. Hmm, now what business would I have going through that intersection so much in a 2-3 hour span? Has to be "cruising".

 

[Pablo]

So, did the parking lot owner(s) complain of trespassing? The article is light on detail.

 

[tom slick]

I wonder if it would have been the same situation if it was a hotrod or harley gathering?

 

[Drew99GT]

If anything, the huge gathering I spoke of is HUGE business for all the establishments around the area. I mean come on...a bunch of thirsty, testosterone laden dudes hanging out shooting the [censored] about cars. The supermarket there gets more business, the gas station practically has 2 tanker trucks on standby, the Carls Junior looks like it's on fire from all the burger being cooked, the bar....well, the bar is a rockin so don't bother knockin. And all the establishments have publicly welcomed the gathering. Seems like a "Win" Win" if ya know what I mean.

 

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: XS650
Where are the usual BITOG police apologists?


If I owned the shopping center, I wouldn't want that bunch of punks congregating on my property, either. The California property owner likely feels the same way about his property that I feel about mine - if you're not there to patronize my business or my tenant's business, then go hang out somewhere else.

If you're on private property after hours with a [censored] riced out Honda and get busted by the Police and smog cops, too bad so sad. They should have had their "meet" on their own [censored] property.


Now all you've got to do is rise from your computer, walk to the front door, open it and yell:

HEY, YOU KIDS! GET OUT OF MY YARD!

That'll teach these "punks" in their "[censored] riced Hondas."

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: Jett Rink
Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: XS650
Where are the usual BITOG police apologists?


If I owned the shopping center, I wouldn't want that bunch of punks congregating on my property, either. The California property owner likely feels the same way about his property that I feel about mine - if you're not there to patronize my business or my tenant's business, then go hang out somewhere else.

If you're on private property after hours with a [censored] riced out Honda and get busted by the Police and smog cops, too bad so sad. They should have had their "meet" on their own [censored] property.


Now all you've got to do is rise from your computer, walk to the front door, open it and yell:

HEY, YOU KIDS! GET OUT OF MY YARD!

That'll teach these "punks" in their "[censored] riced Hondas."


The cops were just [censored] that the kids weren't out street racing so they could write some big tickets.

 

[wantin150]

Once again, I'm NOT defending actions but...

The news interviewed 1 officer and pulled a little quote, probably out of context, and printed it. Just because there was 100 cops doesn't mean that all of them acted the same way. When there are special enforcement teams or details, people are issued tickets for everything. No breaks. That way, the enforcement is consistant and no one can claim that they were picked on (not the group, just an individual).

Modifying vehicles in California is illegal. Aftermarket exhausts and intakes are illegal (unless specifically CARB exempt as indicated by the add-on mfg and appropriately tagged as such). California requires two license plates. If you remove one to be cool, you're in violation. Get over it. You made the modifications. This isn't some cop saying you're doing 10 over the speed limit. Equipment violations are pretty cut and dry.

California also has "fix it" type tickets, IIRC. How many of these violations would later be dropped if the violation was fixed?

Big Brother is watching and "the" Man is coming to get us. What's that song? "Paranoia, Paranoia, everybody's coming to get me."

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: wantin150
Once again, I'm NOT defending actions but...

The news interviewed 1 officer and pulled a little quote, probably out of context, and printed it. Just because there was 100 cops doesn't mean that all of them acted the same way. When there are special enforcement teams or details, people are issued tickets for everything. No breaks. That way, the enforcement is consistant and no one can claim that they were picked on (not the group, just an individual).

Modifying vehicles in California is illegal. Aftermarket exhausts and intakes are illegal (unless specifically CARB exempt as indicated by the add-on mfg and appropriately tagged as such). California requires two license plates. If you remove one to be cool, you're in violation. Get over it. You made the modifications. This isn't some cop saying you're doing 10 over the speed limit. Equipment violations are pretty cut and dry.

California also has "fix it" type tickets, IIRC. How many of these violations would later be dropped if the violation was fixed?

Big Brother is watching and "the" Man is coming to get us. What's that song? "Paranoia, Paranoia, everybody's coming to get me."


And you're telling me there was no REAL crime that 100 officers could have attended to versus writing [censored] revenue tickets?

That HALF A MILLION DOLLARS for a fishing expedition could not have been spent in a more cost-effective manner?

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Quote:
"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"


Whose business is it what you do/want/need ?


Not only that, but by the officer's logic, anything with a better power to weight ratio than your average stock compact car would also have an interest in street racing. Obviously that isn't true with 270 HP Camrys rolling off assembly lines.

This is just another case of law enforcement bullying the general public. I am not saying that all LEOs are bad, but the ones who are cause things like this to happen.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Remember the kid to baited cops and videotaped them? He downlinked everything so there was no "tape" to confiscate.

I have mixed feelings w/law enforcment right now. I do, however, think cops don't like the camera because it compells them to act and act appropriately. On that note, I was charged with "harassment" for videotaping two aholes, the "rich" guy next door and his younger friend-goon who were quadding in the state park/township road. The argument against me was the guy was "obviously" feeling harassed and expressed that by opening my car door and fighting me for the camera twice. He could have gotten ~really~ hurt by doing that, but I shrugged him off. The cops said I should have stopped taping after he got mad. I said hey, when someone starts an assault on me, my impulse is not to turn OFF my camera. I learned a lot about the system in the 2 hearings that came from that. Seen a cop lie and support lying "victim/witnesses" while charging me w/o even coming to ask me what happened. Even had a judge or two pull a fast one.

otoh, another cop dealt with some serious lies about something I supposely did (don't want to get into it) pretty professionally and told me after that he "liked" me. He knew about some of the other stuff that happened and saw me deal with it like a respectable man. So, the cop thing can go either way. In this case, I think the pre-enforcement thing is a bit much, but The Law is all we have as a nation and it should be followed...on BOTH sides.

 

[Cogito]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I was charged with "harassment" for videotaping two aholes, the "rich" guy next door and his younger friend-goon who were quadding in the state park/township road. The argument against me was the guy was "obviously" feeling harassed and expressed that by opening my car door and fighting me for the camera twice. He could have gotten ~really~ hurt by doing that, but I shrugged him off. The cops said I should have stopped taping after he got mad. I said hey, when someone starts an assault on me, my impulse is not to turn OFF my camera.

Is "harassment" a legit law that's on the books? Did you beat it or get found guilty? If guilty, what was sentence?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Harassment covers a lot of stuff.

iirc,
with INTENT, to harass alarm or annoy...
shoves strikes kicks....etc.

Pretty broad stuff and a lot of room for judicial interpretation. It could be as mundane as blowing your horn at someone or yelling somthing.

Like I was saying, I was guilty, even though photographing is a protected act, a freedom of expression. My problem is that I did not use a lawyer, and they can screw you...right or wrong. Too much to get into in this thread, but I am somewhat bitter, since the guy who fought me for the camera only got Harassment too, even though I went to the hospital. Imagine equating those two acts, well...the court did. I told him at appeal hearing that if he lied in court (to support my a-hole neighbour), I'd sue him and be shure the mother of his kids (who he rode on the back of the quad w/o helmet and fought me in front of) got a copy of the tape (in case of a custody issue). He lied and I'm making good on my threat within a few weeks or so.