Posted on 02/15/2003 6:17:19 AM PST by at bay
While the Salinas Police Department says its anti-cruising crackdown is intended to protect the public, some people reject the strategy as both disruptive and unfair to young people. On Feb. 6, police announced a new campaign to eradicate cruising, the practice of vehicles repeatedly driving a street route to be seen and socialize. They say it breeds illegal activity.
Last Friday and Saturday nights, officers set up checkpoints on North Main Street and threatened to ticket any drivers who passed through twice within six hours. The department plans a similar effort this weekend....
In calls and letters to The Californian, residents and non-residents have blasted police efforts. Others have praised the enforcement.
"I'm sick of the way these kids are being treated," wrote Roger Dean of Greenfield, who said cruising by young people is an American tradition. "They are being cut off by the same people that should be finding ways for them to vent and relieve some of their energy. It's no wonder they resort to drugs, alcohol and gang life."......
John Kaza of Salinas contends the Police Department didn't follow the law when it established checkpoints Saturday night because there was no cruising congestion on North Main Street. The California Vehicle Code defines cruising as "the repetitive driving of a motor vehicle past a traffic control point in traffic which is congested at or near the traffic control point, as determined by the ranking peace officer on duty within the affected area, within a specified time period and after the vehicle operator has been given an adequate written notice that further driving past the control point will be a violation of the ordinance or resolution."
"The law is written to relieve congestion," Kaza said. "It was not written to relieve all social ills." But Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said the law was written with a leeway for police interpretation. Salinas police Capt. Cassie McSorley, who supervises patrol units, agreed....
Round Table Pizza received clearance from police so its delivery drivers could travel through the area without being ticketed...
Kaza said he witnessed another result of the cruising checkpoints: clogged traffic on northbound Main Street that forced a fire truck to head north against southbound traffic while responding to an emergency call. He said that potentially could endanger drivers and slow response time.....
What's next-Salinas police officials say they plan to resume anti-cruising checkpoints on North Main Street this weekend, but have not revealed specific days or times.
United States Constitution, Amendment I.
The police are harrassing young drivers because their "cruising" breeds illegal activity.
Police are supposed to enforce the law, not engage in behavior modification. Their job is to arrest those engaged in illegal activity, not stretch an ordinance to criminalize a legal activity.
Heads should roll on this one.
This is completely ridiculous. Twice in 6 hours?
In my town, the failed attempt to curb 'cruising' on Friday and Saturday nights hasn't work and has totally screwed up traffic flow because the street lights are timed so that you hit every light red. It used to take about 5 minutes to go through the center of town. Now it takes easily twice that long. There's something I've wondered about this: isn't it desirable for a kid who is 'cruising' to hit every light red? I would think so. That way, they can yell to people at the intersections and spend more time calling attention to themselves than if they were moving through the intersections at 35 MPH. This anti-cruising stuff benefits nobody and screws up traffic flow 7 days a week because the cops want to curb cruising on Friday and Saturday nights.
I don't really understand why the cops are so against cruising anyway. The kids are doing whatever they're doing in public where they can be watched. How is driving them underground going to help lessen minor crimes?
The police forces are seriously over-manned if they have the manpower to check every license plate and see if the same one comes up again in a 6 hour period. Otherwise, they're grossly neglecting their other duties, which I suspect is really the case. There's no reason to go after murders, rapes, and muggings when there's (Gulp!!!) kids driving their cars up and down the street.
I've been hearing a lot of stories about 45 year old moms and dads being ticketed for cruising because they're out picking up their spouse and kids at different locations and times and pass a police checkpoint a few times in an evening.
From what I've seen, law enforcement's attempts to curb cruising inconvenience everybody and benefit nobody. The cops need to find a different priority.
Oh, that's mighty big of them.
So now the you have to seek permission from the cops to be in certain places at certain times, otherwise, you're committing a "crime". What a joke.
Fund raiser!
...but it can't happen here.
And how did the cops come to this brilliant conclusion? So I guess any activity that brings together kids in public places causes the little tykes to go crazy and become criminals. By this "logic" high school dances, hockey games, pizza restaurants, bowling alleys, and roller skating should be banned immediately.
Many years ago the town I lived in was successful.
The downtown area promptly began to decline.
Now this town has an annual cruising festival to bring people to the downtown area and generate revenue.
Easy Conclusion. They use the milk theory, that nearly 100% of drug users and cruisers start out on milk and move on to heavier stuff. Connect the dot.
Does anyone really doubt that the police state has arrived anymore?
Let me see if I understand:
I pay a hefty tax to register my car with the state when I buy it.
I pay an annual tax to "renew" my license plate.
I pay another tax to get a drivers license.
I pay gas taxes and sales taxes to maintain and build the roads.
But now if I want to drive on these roads built with MY money, I risk having to pay another tax after being harassed by police officers who are paid by my property taxes.
What would Thomas Jefferson do?
GRRRRRRR... and I was in a good mood when I got up this morning.
Thomas Jefferson would find a couple of useful idiots to agitate with the mayor and town council, then he would hire a friendly newspaper editor to whom he could feed stories behind the scene, all the while maintaining "plausible deniability" and leaving no fingerprints.
Your contempt for Jefferson gets you an "A" for your history class. Excellent job, comrade. Keep up the good work, and you might get a special pass allowing you to pass through the checkpoints unmolested on weekends.
But there is a waiting list for these passes, so please be patient. Just know that the central committee appreciates your service and you WILL be rewarded.
And they've taken over the Republican Party as well.
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