http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6282348.stm

This lady was arrested for not watering her lawn, and then was allegedly hit by a police officer and then put in jail. Over a dry lawn.... Its just ridiculous.
I hate things like that happening to the elderly, its just cruel.

Aw that is sad .

What is Utah like? Is it a very dry place anyway? If it is, I guess they can't have hosepipe bans otherwise the non-watering of the lawn would not have been an issue.

insane....

She had it coming. She was a neglectfull gardener and her plants were dying. Those poor plants have rights too, you know!

Honestly though... how do the Utah policemen sleep at night?

And what bizarre series of events could have led to the legislation reguarding... a healthy lawn?!?! I think Jon Huntsman, Jr. just got bored one day...

That's crazy. Howdo you treat a little old lady like that.

About 10 or 15 years ago i would have been shocked........

Watering lawns is a waste of resources. Those police have what's really coming--karma.

Okay that is just idiotic.

I'm going to Utah to find that cop. If I don't come back you'll know where I am...I'm bringing Uncle Vinnie and Uncle Sal with me.

Jody

OREM, Utah (AP) -- A woman who was injured and arrested during a struggle with a police officer over her brown lawn said she wants to move. "Since this has happened, I don't want to live in Orem anymore," Betty Perry said Monday. "I know now that I'll never see another winter" in the Utah County city.
go

think be best to move -
as not much to say about community awareness and well-being
for the respect of our elders..
to begin with..

I think the police did exactly the right thing. if you are going to let one old lady terrorize the town, you might as well invite Bin Laden to tea.
I emailed the police dept at their addresses below. I have attached my email praising them for their efforts. I encourage you to email them as well.


To; Lt. Doug Edwards: (dbedwards@orem.org)

CC; City Coucil Members, City Manager and Human Resources Dept.

( jcwashburn@orem.org, jareams@orem.org, cm2wlw@orem.org, meseastrand@orem.org, lcampbell@orem.org, ddickerson@orem.org,kamccandless@orem.org,mbblack@orem.org, sathurston@orem.org )


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm

Greetings Lt. Edwards,

Congratulations, Your story made it all the way to the U.K. After reading your story on the BBC wire here, I just had to write to see if you can help us with a serious problem we are having here in England.

It seems we have an abundance of two year olds here who insist on wetting their nappies in a blatant violation of the statute requiring them to be potty trained by 24 months of age. We are all in agreement that something must be done to show these renegade toddlers who is the boss! It has been decided that we need some Jack-Booted-Thugs to whip their little behinds into shape. Perhaps you can help us.

Since you may be looking for a new job soon, Maybe you can come work for us. I don't know what the going rate of pay is in Orem, but I think we can be quite competitive.

Your experience beating up old ladies who won't water their lawns makes you the ideal candidate.

Hope to hear from you soonest.

Sincerely,

Nigel "Harry" Dangler
Metropolitan Police Service
New Scotland Yard
Broadway
London
SW1H 0BG

Phone (+011) (44) 20-7230-1212
(24 hour switchboard)

I had a friend once who got a $100 fine for having dandelions in his yard.

But wow, this story takes the cake.

wow, dandelions? that is just as silly.... what's wrong with these people? why don't they go do some real police work? go catch a bad guy or something...

Let me play Devil's Advocate here.
I live and work in Utah. Yes, it is largely an arid state, with vast deserts.
Even Salt Lake City and Orem were once deserts.
Now, everyone is quick to believe the old lady. But I can tell you, trying to win big lawsuits against the government is a national pasttime in America.
Isn't is possible that this woman could have slipped and fallen, and is making up the whole assault charge?
She may be trying to win a lawsuit, or get a settlement.
There's a phrase for this sort of litigious activity. It's called, "Winning the Redneck Lottery."
Doesn't it seem a little odd that a police officer would strike a 70-year-old woman with handcuffs?
By and large, police officers are not stupid. He would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by physically assaulting an old woman.
For all we know, she could have been screaming the crudest obscenties at the officer, who tried to calm her. Perhaps she turned on her heel to storm into the house and tripped.
I spent four years in law enforcement and can tell you from experience that you never strike a perp with handcuffs. Handcuffs are used to gain control of a suspect, not abuse him or her. Her claim of being struck with handcuffs seems odd, given that most police have a nightstick and mace on their belt to control a suspect.
Why would he use handcuffs to hit her?
Unless, boys and girls, he decided to place her under arrest and she struggled, causing her own injuries with handcuffs.
I don't know what happened.
I wasn't there. Were you?
Let's not be so quick to judge the officer. You've already decided he's guilty as Hell.
Let's see how his story develops.
My guess is that more factors will come out, such as her being intoxicated, agitated, pushing the officer and so on.
You think a 70-year-old woman can't be drunk, crazy and combative? Folks I've seen a few!
And don't forget, newspapers often get facts incorrect when it comes to the initial reports of a crime or auto accident. I know because I was a reporter for 12 years and I got bad information from the police department or a source.
Settle down. Don't hang the police officer yet.
Let's see what happens with this story.
Perhaps I'm wrong and it went down as she said, with one bad cop making it tough for all police officers.
Let's wait and see.

To tell you the truth, I think that the woman is telling the truth and that the officer did hit her. For it seems that some of the worst attitude people become police officers. Either that or they must take a mandatory bad attitude course at the police academy.

Sing it brotha.
The problem is that there is a large number of people who become police officers because they have a need to control and dominate others. I mean take off the blue, wrap the handcuffs in fur and become a dominatrix instead. But I mean, thats just my opinion.

WTF? This has to be the most ridiculous example of over-zealousness shown by a police officer ever!

not to rain on anyone's parade but maybe this should be merged?


http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...p;#entry1764728