17-Year-Old Busted With Marijuana, Paraphernalia
Fox Point police made three marijuana arrests in a one-week period, including a Mequon boy whose mom told him he doesn't have to unlock the doors for police.
When Fox Point police accused a 17-year-old Mequon boy of holding marijuana, the boy locked the car doors – because his mom said so.
Police originally pulled over the vehicle because it was traveling 38 mph in a 25 mph zone on Yates Road at 5:30 p.m. on March 8 in the 7000 block of Port Washington Road. Fox Point police smelled burnt marijuana when they approached the vehicle, but the boy denied possession of any illegal substances.
When a second officer arrived, police returned to find the boy had locked all the doors to the vehicle. Police asked him if he was going to unlock the doors, but he refused, saying "My mom says I don't have to."
Based on smelling the marijuana, police placed the boy under arrest for possession of marijuana. The officers proceeded to search the glove compartment, where they found two glass pipes, a digital scale and 21 grams of marijuana. The boy told cops he bought the marijuana because it was exam week at school.
The boy was cited for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Two other marijuana citations were issued last week in Fox Point:
- A 21-year-old Brown Deer man was caught with marijuana in his dorm room at Cardinal Stritch University early Friday morning. Fox Point police responded to the man's dorm room on a report of a marijuana smell at 4:04 a.m. Shortly after they left, a university security guard contacted police to tell them that he found an additional marijuana blunt laying underneath some papers.
- Fox Point police investigated a vehicle with five occupants in the Best Buy parking lot at 1:25 a.m. on March 12. When police saw marijuana and a fully-burned paper material in the door of the vehicle, cops removed the occupants from the vehicle and searched the glove compartment, where they found a one-hitter pipe, a marijuana grinder and a glass pipe. Everyone in the vehicle refused ownership of the paraphernalia, but the driver was charged for possession of paraphernalia.
Malcolm Kyle
4:46 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Prohibition has diverted police resources away from other law enforcement activities with the result that violent crime and crime against property is driven far higher than it would have been otherwise. To the extent that communities divert law enforcement resources from violent crimes to illegal drug offenses the risk of punishment for engaging in violent crime is reduced.
The National Firearms Act of 1934 was actually a direct response to the acute rise in prohibition (1919-33) engendered gun violence.
PROHIBITION EQUATES TO MORE VIOLENT CRIME WHICH LEADS TO MORE CALLS FOR GUN CONTROL
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada reviewed 15 studies that evaluated the association between violence and drug law enforcement. "Our findings suggest that increasing drug law enforcement is unlikely to reduce drug market violence. Instead, the existing evidence base suggests that gun violence and high homicide rates may be an inevitable consequence of drug prohibition and that disrupting drug markets can paradoxically increase violence."
http://tinyurl.com/c4uyecn
During alcohol prohibition all profits went to enrich criminals and corrupt politicians. Young men, while battling over turf, died every day on inner-city streets. A vast fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on education. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed! Sound familiar?
Clay Greene
10:47 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I agree about pulling over the kid for driving 13 miles per hour over the speed limit in a residential neighborhood. I happen to live in the area so I know there are many people (me included) who are out walking and speeding is a danger to their safety. However, speeding is all too common and I highly doubt that even a small percentage of those people are speeding because they are stoned. If they are under the influence of an intoxicating substance that impairs their driving, it is significantly more likely to be alcohol than marijuana.
My reaction to the overall story is that it seems like a good thing that the police have nothing better to do than arrest kids for a basically harmless activity. That must mean that there are no more serious crimes being committed in Fox Point.
Di Atribe
9:44 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
Good for the cops and shame on the kid and his mother. Cops don't write the laws, and parents are supposed to be teaching their children how to stay out of trouble.
What I get out of the article is a failure of a parent on two different fronts--she was too stupid to teach her kid right from wrong, and was too stupid again with her faulty advice after Einstein Jr. was pulled over.
Some cops agree busting people with small amounts of pot is a bad use of resources, but no cop is willing to lose his job in order to let some moron of a teenager slide after getting caught speeding while in possession of illegal drugs. Maybe the dummy should have obeyed the speed limit?
Zan Jones
11:52 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
The advice wasn't faulty. Until the police had probable cause (smelling the marijuana), they had no right to ask the kid to unlock the car - or submit to a search. When you are asked to submit to a search, the most correct answer is "Am I under arrest, officer?" If the answer is no, then no, you can't search my car. Until the police have either a search warrant or probable cause, they can't force a search on you. They can ask... and most people think they have to comply in that case. The kid was stupid for speeding, and stupid for doing drugs in the the first place, but he and his mother weren't wrong. Know your rights.
Di Atribe
12:33 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
Evangelize the "know your rights" stuff elsewhere. Doing it here makes you sound like a looney, even though your concepts are sound.
It said in TFA mom's advice to be non-compliant was after the obvious smell of pot was the trigger for the search request.
Rob Winsall
1:53 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
I think you sound like the looney actually.
Di Atribe
5:06 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
How? By suggesting the mom and son are pretty dumb?
Zan Jones
11:38 am on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
People should know what their rights are. I don't see anything 'looney' about that at all. What's 'looney' about educating yourself?