CDR: Fucking cops (Put down those fries)
George at Orwellian.Org
George at Orwellian.Org
Fri Nov 17 05:05:58 PST 2000
Girl Arrested for Eating Fries in Subway
Police Cite 'Zero Tolerance' No-Food Rule
Nov. 16, 2000
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The mother of a
12-year-old girl who was
handcuffed, booked and
fingerprinted for eating french
fries in a subway station says
police went too far.
"I can't believe there isn't a better way to teach kids
a lesson," said Tracey Hedgepeth, whose daughter Ansche
was arrested. "The police treated her like a criminal."
But Metro Transit Police Chief Barry J. McDevitt is
unapologetic about Ansche's arrest last month and
others like it.
"We really do believe in zero tolerance," he said.
Undercover operation
Commuter complaints about unlawful eating on Metro cars
and in stations led McDevitt to mount an undercover
crackdown on violators. A dozen plainclothes officers
cited or arrested 35 people, 13 of them juveniles. Only
one adult was arrested.
The seventh-grade girl said the station in northwest
Washington where she was nabbed is "just a place where
a lot of kids go. There's a hot dog stand and Cafe Med,
where I bought my fries."
She said she took the elevator to the station with a
friend. As the pair passed the station kiosk, a man
stepped in front of Ansche.
'Put down your fries'
"He said: 'Put down your fries. Put down your book
bag,'" Ansche said. "They searched my book bag and
searched me. They asked me if I have any drugs or
alcohol."
Ansche said she has never been asked those questions or
searched like that before. "I was embarrassed. I told
my friend to call my mom, but I didn't tell anybody
else," she said.
She said she never talked to the officer, although
Metro police insist that she was asked whether she knew
eating was against the law and that she said she did.
They said anyone who doesn't know about the law usually
is given a warning first.
Signs warning that it is illegal to eat or drink on the
cars and in the stations are posted in the Metro
system.
Custody for juveniles
She was taken to the detention center, where she was
checked in, fingerprinted and held for her parents to
pick her up.
If Ansche had been an adult, she simply would have
received citations for fines up to $300. But juveniles
who commit criminal offenses in the District of
Columbia must be taken into custody, McDevitt said.
It is department policy to handcuff anyone who is
arrested, no matter the age, he said.
Ansche must perform community service and undergo
counseling at the Boys and Girls Club, one of the
sentences Metro has chosen for underage snacking
lawbreakers.
Bad trash problem
McDevitt said the Tenleytown stop where the arrest
occurred has had a particularly bad trash problem.
"We had not only customers complaining," he said.
"Train conductors were also complaining about how
trashed their trains were, and they were asking for
more enforcement."
Hedgepeth said she agrees with sticking to the rules,
but wonders why police couldn't issue warnings.
"How do they expect kids to grow up trusting police?"
she said. "My daughter will now grow up knowing she's
been in handcuffs. All over a french fry."
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