Thursday, April 19, 2007

No more hopscotch says police


PARENTS blasted police after officers swooped on kids as young as three — for chalking on pavements so they could play
HOPSCOTCH.

Lisa Badland, 30, said son Ryan, five, was “terrified” when the kids got a telling-off because a neighbour complained.

Ryan and 10 pals aged three to 11 were playing outside their homes in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, after Lisa gave them special pavement chalks.

Two cops then lined them up for a lecture on graffiti and road safety.

Lisa said: “Ryan was petrified. He saw their handcuffs and thought they were going to take him away. It got totally blown out of proportion.”

Dad Neil, 35, said: “I thought the police would have better things to do.”

Cops said they had a duty to investigate the complaint, adding: “Anti-social behaviour is a priority. What one person sees as harmless fun, another sees as graffiti.”

Believe it or not this is not the first time this has happened. I blogged about it last year here. At first I thought this story was just a recycled story but it turns out it isn’t. The police really do waste time over this.

5 comments:

Ruthie said...

If the police really have so little crime to deal with that they're arresting children for drawing with chalk, perhaps they should move over here.

We could use a few more police officers.

Anonymous said...

cxxwell i bet they (pc plods) went home thinking,thats another good days crime fighting done.
This country and those employed to uphold the law and protect us are a joke.

youdontknowme said...

They have been a joke since atleast 1997 when Labour was elected

Lord Nazh said...

They have plenty of crime to look afer, but the new-improved Britain makes social behavior crimes the top priority.

Matt Wardman said...

Might I suggest that the neighbour be cautioned for harrassment?