US Police wage war against rogue lemonade stands

Bob Hubbard

Bob Hubbard

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Continuing the seeming growing trend of police in super safe parts for the country having nothing better to do than target kids lemonade stands for shakedowns in their jobs as income collectors for the town, police in Coralville, Iowa shut down several children's drink stands that had failed to pay the $400 vendor permit fees to the town.

At least some of them felt bad about it.

"The line has to be drawn somewhere," the town police chief told a local newspaper. "The line was drawn in the incorrect spot. Hopefully, they take that into account the next time RAGBRAI comes though."


Police in Appleton, Wis also have targeted kids lemonade stands for shutdown.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/28609003/detail.html
An officer then shut down the lemonade stand and said the sales were prohibited by city ordinance. The law went into effect last month and made it illegal for licensed vendors to sell food and drinks within a two-block radius of a special event.Police have apologized to the family.
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These things shouldn't be happening at all. What ever happened to common sense?

Local Coverage & News:
Coralville Police Shutdown Several Children's Lemonade Stands [KCRG]
Coralville dad sour over temporary ordinance [Iowa City Press-Citizen]
http://consumerist.com/2011/08/police-continue-fight-against-kiddie-lemonade-stand-menace.html

Previous Articles
Georgia Girls' Lemonade Stand Reopened at Local Water Park After Police Shut
You got a licence for that Lemonaide? No? Then Ya'll are gonna have to come
Police Bust Tweens For Operating Unlicensed Lemonade Stand
Government Cracks Down On Little Girl's Lemonade Stand
Teens Busted For Selling Cupcakes Without A License



Sidenote: If it seems I'm being a tad critical of the PD's in these cases, yeah I am. I tend to think that unless you have real serious health complaints, the tax collectors part of police duty should be much lower on the priority list than things like speeders, robberies, and actual victim crimes. I hope these deputized 'Sherrifs of Notingham" sleep well at night after doing their duty shaking down little kids.
 
Bob Hubbard said:
Continuing the seeming growing trend of police in super safe parts for the country having nothing better to do than target kids lemonade stands for shakedowns in their jobs as income collectors for the town, police in Coralville, Iowa shut down several children's drink stands that had failed to pay the $400 vendor permit fees to the town.

At least some of them felt bad about it.

"The line has to be drawn somewhere," the town police chief told a local newspaper. "The line was drawn in the incorrect spot. Hopefully, they take that into account the next time RAGBRAI comes though."

Local Coverage & News:
Coralville Police Shutdown Several Children's Lemonade Stands [KCRG]
Coralville dad sour over temporary ordinance [Iowa City Press-Citizen]
http://consumerist.com/2011/08/police-continue-fight-against-kiddie-lemonade-stand-menace.html

Previous Articles
Georgia Girls' Lemonade Stand Reopened at Local Water Park After Police Shut
You got a licence for that Lemonaide? No? Then Ya'll are gonna have to come
Police Bust Tweens For Operating Unlicensed Lemonade Stand
Government Cracks Down On Little Girl's Lemonade Stand
Teens Busted For Selling Cupcakes Without A License



Sidenote: If it seems I'm being a tad critical of the PD's in these cases, yeah I am. I tend to think that unless you have real serious health complaints, the tax collectors part of police duty should be much lower on the priority list than things like speeders, robberies, and actual victim crimes. I hope these deputized 'Sherrifs of Notingham" sleep well at night after doing their duty shaking down little kids.
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Should they not shake down schools for sending out kids for fundraisers?
 
But maybe the parents need to get the liscense, then deduct the cost of it as business expense, as well as the cost of the stand and the lemonade...lets face it, the parents pay dearly for their kid's fun of entrepeneurship. a quarter or whatever per cup does hardy cover the cost...

It does not hurt the city though....


(maybe all those kids need to open 'Alex's Lemonade stand' a fundraising effort I think for cancer/leucemia....sadly the young lady lost her fight, I do believe even before her name sake ran the Kentucky Derby: Afleet Alex)


Can minors even legally get a vendor's license?
 
I think we do need to crack down on rogue lemonade, it's giving the domesticated type a bad name.
 
As a bit of a tangent.. I was reading through some comments on those links and noted how some people were (and some here have as well...) spouting the old saws "The police no longer serve us...", "Cops no longer work for us or with us, now they work against us. " yadda yadda. Implying that somewhere back in time there was a "golden age" of law enforcement where all cops were "officer friendly".

I think people have a tendency to manufacture a non-existant past so that they can imply that the current topic of conversation has somehow fallen from that standard. IMO thats BS based on either ignorance of history or a flawed impression of history based on popular media. If you had the cops of the 60's-70's and even the 80's patroling todays streets you cant imagine what sort of Youtube videos you would see. Todays policing is a dramatic improvement over yesteryears in terms of professionalism. Perhaps an argument could be made that these officers in this example are exhibiting less "officer discretion" in terms of enforcement than those of decades ago, but there are some people who would gripe about officers using discretion too.
 
Archangel M said:
As a bit of a tangent.. I was reading through some comments on those links and noted how some people were (and some here have as well...) spouting the old saws "The police no longer serve us...", "Cops no longer work for us or with us, now they work against us. " yadda yadda. Implying that somewhere back in time there was a "golden age" of law enforcement where all cops were "officer friendly".

I think people have a tendency to manufacture a non-existant past so that they can imply that the current topic of conversation has somehow fallen from that standard. IMO thats BS based on either ignorance of history or a flawed impression of history based on popular media. If you had the cops of the 60's-70's and even the 80's patroling todays streets you cant imagine what sort of Youtube videos you would see. Todays policing is a dramatic improvement over yesteryears in terms of professionalism. Perhaps an argument could be made that these officers in this example are exhibiting less "officer discretion" in terms of enforcement than those of decades ago, but there are some people who would gripe about officers using discretion too.
Click to expand...

I guess you never lived in Mayberry.....
 
Archangel M said:
As a bit of a tangent.. I was reading through some comments on those links and noted how some people were (and some here have as well...) spouting the old saws "The police no longer serve us...", "Cops no longer work for us or with us, now they work against us. " yadda yadda. Implying that somewhere back in time there was a "golden age" of law enforcement where all cops were "officer friendly".

I think people have a tendency to manufacture a non-existant past so that they can imply that the current topic of conversation has somehow fallen from that standard. IMO thats BS based on either ignorance of history or a flawed impression of history based on popular media. If you had the cops of the 60's-70's and even the 80's patroling todays streets you cant imagine what sort of Youtube videos you would see. Todays policing is a dramatic improvement over yesteryears in terms of professionalism. Perhaps an argument could be made that these officers in this example are exhibiting less "officer discretion" in terms of enforcement than those of decades ago, but there are some people who would gripe about officers using discretion too.
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Exactly! what we have here is the fond remininces of the 'good old days' where when kids were caught being naughty the local copper would clip them round the ear and send them on their way suitably chastised. As if! If people think kids are bad today they should have seen them in Victorian and Edwardian times, even into the 30s and 40s things weren't as good as people 'remember'. A child caught stealing because he was hungry due to the appalling poverty is supposed to learn not to steal because he gets hit round the head by a policeman?
As you say policing is probably at the highest level of professionalism it has ever been, I've just posted this on another thread, the police aren't perfect but they are trying to do the best they can, the truth is too that you can't please everyone.
 
[yt]PpiPEWDwK_Q[/yt]

This one isn't really on topic, other than the police violence hinted at but it is very funny if you're a middle-aged Britisher ... so that'll be me and Tez then who get this (maybe YL too) :lol:
 
Tez3 said:
but they are trying to do the best they can, the truth is too that you can't please everyone.
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A minor amendment, but I would say that most police are trying to do the best they can and most conduct themselves as professionals. Some few, however, are corrupt, and while a small percentage, they know the power they hold and the damage they can cause. The trick is both knowing the one from the other and remembering that they are, in fact, one and the other.
 
RandomPhantom700 said:
A minor amendment, but I would say that most police are trying to do the best they can and most conduct themselves as professionals. Some few, however, are corrupt, and while a small percentage, they know the power they hold and the damage they can cause. The trick is both knowing the one from the other and remembering that they are, in fact, one and the other.
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TBH that was a given, there are always going to be those who won't or can't abide by the law they are supposed to uphold.
 
Most police are decent folks, doing a hard job the best they can.

In these cases though...there's a def. lack of 'discretion'.
 
I still think the police should mace and tazer the kids and then take the family into custody for criminally dangerous capitalistic tendencies. When will that free enterprise nonsense stop.
 
Shaking down a lemonaide stand is deplorable and the only fault I can find with the LEOs is that they know what the job description demands. Otherwise, it's the people trying to legalize graft with terrible laws. I imagine it's pretty easy being a cop, voting against all of that crap, and being forced to choose between your job and your principles because your citizen political side lost. When I worked for the government as a teacher, this happened to me all of the time!

If you quit and drop out of the system, like I did, that solves your problem, but it doesn't solve the greater problem because there is always someone willing to step up and do the dirty work. Political action is the only way to make a real difference. Go to meetings and take a principled stand. Let others know what you think.

And if you work for the Man, cut some breaks if you can get away with it. I doubt the law was meant to be applied to kids. It's origin lies in larger competitors setting up hurtles for their smaller competitors. LOL, and that might apply to kids in some areas.
 
Solution: Vote in more people who are tea party members or are sympathetic to the movement. That will help with the silliness.
 
granfire said:
Son, we want LESS silliness, not more!
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Yeah, you can sell lemonaide, but not to homosexuals and you must to give it to our soldiers for free. Tea Party does not equal freedom.
 
Coralville, Iowa Police Department Daily Assignment Briefing:

"Johnson? You're handling the O'Malley Murder Investigation. Take Smalls with you, that's a tough neighborhood."
"Lewis? You're on traffic duty. Patrol around the 9th street offramp, got a report of some increases in speeding out there. Be very visible, we want them to slow down especially around the on and off ramps."
"Whatta about me Sarge?"
"Larry, You're on racketeering and code enforcement today. Got a rumor some kids are setting up an unlicensed lemonade stand in the Growler area. Shake em down, make sure they know they need a permit, an inspection and at least 2 tickets to the policemans ball to set up there. A bust will look good on your resume. While you're out, stop by Duncan's Donuts and get the chief a coffee."
 
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Makalakumu said:
Yeah, you can sell lemonaide, but not to homosexuals and you must to give it to our soldiers for free. Tea Party does not equal freedom.
Click to expand...
Or yeah you can sell it, provided that you have all the paper work and permits, environmental study (at a price), give the government at least 50% in taxes, join the govenment union and pay dues, reduce prices for other government union members, ILLEGAL Aliens (undocumented, transient, or whatever the newest term is), oh and change the name from Suzy's Lemonade to Government refreshment project. Yup Far left progressivism doesn't equal freedom either.
 
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