Newspaper Carrier Uses Raft To Deliver To Flood Victims - Arrested

[matcom]

<snip>

CARLISLE, Pa. -- A plucky newspaper carrier and her father used a rubber raft to reach flooded subscribers -- and both wound up in trouble with the law.

Betsey Patrick, a carrier for The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, delighted six stranded subscribers along the rain-swollen Conodoguinet Creek on Sunday when she and her father floated down in the raft.

"The people were so excited," Patrick said Monday. "They couldn't leave their houses. It made their day."

But police and a state Fish and Boat Commission officer weren't amused, and cited her father, Rick Patrick, for negligent operation of a water craft. Betsey Patrick said she was arrested for disorderly conduct after arguing about the $220 citation and handcuffed in front of her 2-year-old daughter.

Patrick said she will fight the charge.

"There was no problem with what we did," she said. "We both had life vests on. We had signaling whistles."

A Patriot-News carrier since 2001, Patrick said she took to the raft because she didn't want the remnants of Hurricane Ivan to mar her perfect delivery record.

http://www.wftv.com/newsofthestrange/3746990/detail.html

[Lady Effingbroke]

1. Welcome to the glorious police state, Ms. Patrick!

Stories like this piss me off - there are now so damn many police and 'security' officials that they have to look for reasons to justify their jobs - hence the harassment of Ms. Patrick, who was only trying to do HER job, one in which she obviously takes great pride.

This situation could, of course, been handled differently. If Ms. Patrick appeared to be in any trouble while delivering the papers on her raft, the police could have come to her assistance and helped her to safety, with perhaps an admonition to the effect of "we see you are very dedicated to your job and obviously concerned about your customers, but it isn't safe to be on the river at this time."

It is now obvious, since this is just one of many similar stories in which ordinary citizens are arrested and/or fined and punished for ridiculous, minor, arbitrary 'infractions' as defined by the police, that the police no longer 'serve and protect' the best interests of society. Every chance must be taken to enforce obedience to the Police State and revenue must be extracted from the subjects of the Police State to fund its continuing existence and growth.

Ms. Patrick's daughter was intentionally given a lesson, as well, in obedience to the Police State.

[Throckmorton]

2. Welcome to Law and Order America

or "The State as Nanny to her helpless children".

[yellowcanine]

3. I don'tknow she should have been arrested but she should have received

a hefty fine. People pulling stunts like this can put a lot of emergency personnel in jeopardy rescuing them as well as take them away from helping other people. Also it sounds like Ms. Patrick may have not quietly accepted her ticket but chose to give the police a hard time about it. If she has a 2 year old daughter that is even more reason why she shouldn't be trying to be a hero and endangering her life over a nonessential task. A life vest isn't going to do you a lot of good if you get pulled underwater by the current and get trapped there. This woman and her dad should get a Darwin award.

[el_gato]

4. bullshit, I guess you think she should have licked thier boots as well?

Man the sycophantic bootlickers that crawl out of the woodwork sometimes really blows my mind.

Listen up yellow, the government is not your daddy.

[yellowcanine]

5. Not boot licking to accept your fine for a dumb stunt. As for the "Daddy"

part - when someone pulls a stupid stunt like this they jeopardize others - not just themselves. I feel the same way about people who ignore warnings and refuse to evacuate when a killer storm is approaching. If they get into trouble they put others at risk trying to rescue them.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Bullshit. Bullshit

They only jeopardize others when something untoward happens.

Being fined for doing something successfully is outrageous.