Azonie's Blog

Handcuffing old ladies who don't water their lawn?

I wonder if police control is getting out of control. I agree that the woman should have abided by the rules but good grief, this is just too ridiculous. 
Are we becoming a "police state/society"?  Do as you're told and nothing happens to you but step out of line one time type of thing? Don't get me wrong I back the police on most everything, they have a tough job but maybe they're being controled and don't even know it. Such as being ordered to get out there and control the citizens.  I would think that there are more pressing issues then arresting an old lady for lack of lawn watering.

Bloodied 70-year-old woman cuffed for having a brown lawn
Story Highlights
Great-grandmother charged with resisting arrest

She falls, injures nose while being handcuffed

Mayor and City Council apologize, but charges stick

OREM, Utah (AP) -- A 70-year-old woman arrested in a dispute over her brown lawn pleaded not guilty Tuesday, then stood by as a Los Angeles lawyer waved handcuffs for the cameras outside court.

Betty Perry is charged with resisting arrest and failing to maintain her landscaping, both misdemeanors.

She was arrested July 6 after failing to give her name to a police officer who visited her home.

During a struggle, Perry fell and injured her nose. She spent more than an hour in a holding cell before police released her.

"I ask the citizens of Orem: How many of you would like to have your great-grandmother taken from her home with bruises and blood and placed in handcuffs for failing to water her lawn?" attorney Gloria Allred said.

"Let's bring sanity back to law enforcement," she said.

The mayor and City Council apologized, and the police department said the situation could have been handled differently. But the city attorney still is pressing charges, and Perry is due back in court next month.

A state investigation found that Officer James Flygare acted properly in arresting Perry after trying to get her to cooperate.

Perry's water had been turned off for about nine months, at her request, although she was living at the house at the time of the arrest. Orem has a shutoff policy for people who are away for extended periods.