Post by caseagainstfaith on Oct 28, 2011 9:57:15 GMT -5
An outtake from the recent controversy over expired-tag arrests: One of the reasons the District’s erstwhile policy was both objectionable and little-noticed is that police officers had discretion over whether or not to arrest a driver whose registration had lapsed.
Expired tags, as it happens, were just one of 160 misdemeanor offenses where officers can choose either to take offenders into custody or to write them what is essentially a glorified ticket.
The full list can be perused in a Metropolitan Police Department document issued in December 2005 outlining the proper procedure for issuing such a “violation citation,” or Form 61D. (It’s online as part of a trove of official department documents released to the nonprofit Partnership for Civil Justice in 2009.)
The list contains a number of other small-bore offenses that you might not realize can land you in jail — stuff like operating a radar detector, storing building materials in an alley, climbing a street lamp, leaving your dog’s excrement untended, or digging for fishing bait in Rock Creek Park.
Expired tags, as it happens, were just one of 160 misdemeanor offenses where officers can choose either to take offenders into custody or to write them what is essentially a glorified ticket.
The full list can be perused in a Metropolitan Police Department document issued in December 2005 outlining the proper procedure for issuing such a “violation citation,” or Form 61D. (It’s online as part of a trove of official department documents released to the nonprofit Partnership for Civil Justice in 2009.)
The list contains a number of other small-bore offenses that you might not realize can land you in jail — stuff like operating a radar detector, storing building materials in an alley, climbing a street lamp, leaving your dog’s excrement untended, or digging for fishing bait in Rock Creek Park.
They list all 159 minor offenses here - www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/post/here-are-159-minor-things-dc-officers-can-arrest-you-for/2011/10/24/gIQA4mDRDM_blog.html
Some of these are quite retarded like - Auctioneers - Huh?
Distribute Handbills — Public Space - First Amendment violation
