Atlanta transit police arrest citizen for selling subway token at face value

[tyme]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/09/D8ECS5MGH.html

ATLANTA - Transit police handcuffed and cited a man who sold a $1.75 subway token to another rider who was having trouble with a token vending machine. Transit authority spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker said Friday that the officer "acted within the law" after he spotted Donald Pirone, 42, selling the token Nov. 30 inside the West End subway station

"What you've got to keep in mind is that fare abuse is a chronic problem," Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year."

Baker acknowledged that Pirone sold the token at face value and did not make a profit. But the law is the law, she said.

"There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine," Baker said. "The fact is, our officer acted within the law."

As for the handcuffs, Baker said the officer felt they were necessary.

"Our officers do that for their own safety," Baker said.

What a catastrophe it would be if citizens thought they could get away with selling tokens at face value when token machines are broken!

 

[rapier144]

I can't believe they didn't call in swat for that villain.I feel safer now that he's been arrested. He must have been the only person they could arrest that day.Are they to inept to catch anyone else?

 

[Redworm]

I remember when MARTA tokens were less than a buck.

 

[Mr. James]

Hey, Pirone, wanna french fry with that?







(reference to a similar piece of idiocy by Washington DC's Metro Transit Police)

 

[rapier144]

Redworm

That was before they had to hire all the extra law enforcement for those dangerous token scalpers they have there.

 

[jcoiii]

If it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's a stupid law, it's still illegal. Don't jump on the cops for enforcing the law, jump on the people who write the laws.

 

[rapier144]

O I'm sorry i was thinking they should show some common sense. Now i understand why there's such a backlog on the court dockets

 

[Supertac]

I'm the first one to jump to the defence of the LEOs, but if this is really what happened....that guy shouldn't be a cop. I wonder though, if that article only told half of the story. Usually does. For instance, the SF police "scandel" from this week...It thought it must have been bad what the cops did. However, there was something in my mind that was saying "I bet there's a completely different side to this story, you can't believe something just because the nwes says so." Sure enough, it was a bunch of Sociocomiliberals trying to sh** on our officers for nothing more than a goofy, harmless, playful video.

You know what? There's not going to be any more good cops pretty soon. They chase all the good ones away with their stupid politics and PC crap. I see more and more the good cops disappearing....

It's truly a sad, sad thing.

BTW, if anyone is near SF, go online and find out when the "blue ribbon" thing is. People are going to stand in front of cityhall and denounce the stupidity of Gavin Nuisance and the rest of his cronies in support of the police.

Before any of you jump to conclusions on this piece, get another side of the story. I am about to.

 

[RickD]

If it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's a stupid law, it's still illegal. Don't jump on the cops for enforcing the law, jump on the people who write the laws.

Oh, I think I'll jump on anybody who passed this dumb law, enforces this dumb law, or supports the enforcement of this dumb law.

Thanks for your concern, though.

Rick

 

[Redworm]

If it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's a stupid law, it's still illegal. Don't jump on the cops for enforcing the law, jump on the people who write the laws.

According to the article the cop acted within the law. But still, would you arrest someone for selling a bus token or would you just tell the guy "Hey, you can't do that here."?

I'd rather do the latter. The guy is breaking a law that exists because other people rip off the transit company.

 

[jcoiii]

No, I would not arrest the guy, but that's not the point. The officer was acting within his authority. Just because a police officer doesn't do sometihng in a way that another would does not make that officer what some would claim.

Let me translate the following sentence. "What was he thinking?!?" = "Why wasn't he thinking like 'I' was thinking."

 

[rapier144]

Like i said common sense. I made the mistake that it was common.

 

[Rich Lucibella]

No, I would not arrest the guy, but that's not the point.

Beg pardon? I thought that was EXACTLY the point. Should the guy have been arrested or not? Did the Police Officer exercise good judgment or not? You claim "probably not" in both cases. I agree.

Can we wrap this one up on that note?
Rich

 

[CraZkid]

"In other news, the Local 351, Drug-dealers, Murderers and Rapist Union has taken the day off, allowing police to focus on much more serious crimes such as selling a subway token at face value."

 

[jnojr]

If it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's a stupid law, it's still illegal. Don't jump on the cops for enforcing the law, jump on the people who write the laws.{/QUOTE]

Ever hear of "discretion"? An officer is not required to enforce the absolute letter of the law every time s/he witnesses the slightest possible violation.

 

[azurefly]

Exactly. That's exactly why we can "jump on him" for making this arrest.

He had the discretion to arrest or not arrest, and he made the dumb choice in this case.

I hope everyone he knows is giving him crap about this. He deserves it. What a waste of police and court resources.

Why on earth did they make it illegal to sell tokens at face value?! That's a nonsensical way to address people doing things that are actually wrong, like selling them for face value after stealing them. Stealing them is already illegal. Get a person for selling stolen property, no matter what the price they charge. But selling a clearly non-stolen token should not be a crime.

And the cop should have recognized the fact that the law is there to (misguidedly) snare token thieves, not people helping out others who can't get a token out of a machine.

Way to outlaw people-helping-people, you jerkoff cop.



-azurefly

 

[paratrooper]

Question: I'm going to the store . You ask me to pick up a six pack of beer for you . I come back with it . You ask "What do I owe you?" I say "3 bucks". You give me 3 bucks and I give you the beer . Did I SELL you beer ? How many times a day does stuff like this happen ? The guy gave someone a token and they reinbursed him . If this isn't stupid then Popeye's a punk .

 

[deanf]

"What you've got to keep in mind is that fare abuse is a chronic problem," Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year."

What the hell does that mean?

How does it cost MARTA anything if someone buys a token from a machine and then sells it for any price to another?

 

[DonR101395]

Baker said. "The fact is, our officer acted within the law."



He may have acted within the law, but he sure didn't use any common sense.

 

[jcoiii]

Agree with DonR. No "common" sense. (which applies to the majority of people today, so why is it still called common?) jnojr is absolutely right, it is at the officer's discretion. He was technically within his authority, even though he's a bonehead.