Alright well i've typed this out way too much but I want to get as many opinions on it as I can. I'm going to just copy and paste stuff that i've posted elsewhere and any questions you guys might have or whatever I can answer. Anything in quotations is just from another post I copied...
Moorhead, MN is where i'm from, this party was in Fargo, ND. Basically even though they are separate states the authorities treat it as one town in one state. The total population is about 150,000, and it made the paper....shows you how much goes on here.
Here is the newspaper article
And my most recent info on the case
So what do you guys think? I don't think this is right by any means, and like I mentioned I probably sound like a stupid 18 year old trying to get out of a ticket but honestly if I felt I deserved the ticket/fine i'd suck it up and pay it and learn from it. This is just WAY overboard...they're making $27,000 off this party. On top of that I think blanket citations like this deter people from being a designated driver because whats the point in DD'ing if you're going to get a $500 fine just for being there?!!?! A stupid minor in consumption would get you a smaller fine!!
Moorhead, MN is where i'm from, this party was in Fargo, ND. Basically even though they are separate states the authorities treat it as one town in one state. The total population is about 150,000, and it made the paper....shows you how much goes on here.
I'm going to sound like a stupid college student or someone trying to "stick it to the man" on this but believe me, i'm not. Many times I believe law enforcment is in the right and whatnot but this time they are COMPLETELY lieing and I know this first hand.
First off, in the paper they said the party was OUT OF HAND and nobody was cooperating and a bunch of BS like that. In fact, that night I think a total of 4 people tried to run. The house was the type that has a front screened in porch, and what ACTUALLY happened was 50+ kids were trying to pack in there after peacefully and cooperativly handing over their ID's to the officer at the door. Many who hadn't been drinking asked if they could take a breathalyzer right away and be let go and the officers said no. Then one kid broke a window and tried to run, they obviously caught him, and said "well thanks to this kid you're all getting a ticket." that is word for word what he said. They then handed out the ID's they'd collected and started calling out people to the various officers who wrote out the citations. I can honestly tell you I didn't see ANYONE personally who was being disrespectful in any way, everyone was just waiting in the porch for their name to be called, in fact I talked to several officers after i'd been cited who thanked us for our cooperation.
THEN on top of that bull... I had 5 friends as I mentioned in the other thread who were with us. 4 of them go to Mankato (5 hours away in southern MN) and 1 goes to Fergus (45 Min away in MN)... 2 of them were not originally from Moorhead, the others were. 2 of them were girls (the 1 girl goes to fergus, the other goes to mankato) and they were issued their citations and let go no questions asked. The other 3, guys, 1 of which was originally from Moorhead and has family in Moorhead who was in contact with the police DURING the bust. The moment they came out and talked to the officers they were all put into the back of cop cars. I asked an officer why they were back there and he said they were under arrest because they couldn't sign the tickets due to being out of state. When I said "why did you let those girls go when they are not going to a local college" they couldn't give me a straight answer and said basically "you're friends are going to jail." Well according to their logic then the 2 girls they let go no questions asked should have been arrested as well, but they wern't. Even if it wasn't meant to be sexist, this is sexism if you ask me. Either arrest EVERYONE who is from out of state or NONE. Also 1 of the kids that was arrested was not drinking at all and the 2 girls both had been. Overall it was a crap situation and the parents of the kid who was arrested are extremely tweaked now that they know the events behind the arrest.
Basically the paper interviewed the cocky lead officer on the call i'm guessing and he lied out of his butt about what really happened. Unless 3-6 people are their representation of the whole party they're lieing piles of dog doo. And now like I said, the judge is raising everyones fine from $100 to $500 and telling everyone to "stop taking stupid pills before you go out."
Here is the newspaper article
Fargo police cite 54 at loud party Saturday
Forum staff reports, The Forum
Published Monday, October 09, 2006
· advertisement ·
Timing is everything, and if you want to have a loud party in Fargo, don’t crank it up when the police change shifts.
It probably would help not to break any windows while trying to get away, either.
Fifty-four people were cited for noisy party or gathering Saturday night at 1019 9th Ave. S., police reported.
Police were called to the scene about 11:10 on a citizen complaint. When they arrived, several people fled on foot and some partygoers inside the residence broke windows trying to flee, police Sgt. Mathew Sanders said Sunday.
Most of those arrested ranged in age from 18 to early 20s, with 22 of them coming from nearby North Dakota State University, Sanders said. No one was reported injured, he said.
“Anytime we have a loud party of this size and the lack of cooperation we had, we have no option but enforcement,” Sanders said. “The night shift was coming on, and we had the manpower.”
And my most recent info on the case
Well my friend just got done with his hearing and he got $500. He brought his dad with him too since he's an air force colonel in hopes that it would help, but it didn't. He didn't get the "stupid pills" comment but did say the judge was a jerk to everyone but him. He also said that it was stupid because people before him were getting $175-$250 fines for minor in consumption, urinating in public, etc. and a loud party citation is bringing in $500...this is bogus.
So what do you guys think? I don't think this is right by any means, and like I mentioned I probably sound like a stupid 18 year old trying to get out of a ticket but honestly if I felt I deserved the ticket/fine i'd suck it up and pay it and learn from it. This is just WAY overboard...they're making $27,000 off this party. On top of that I think blanket citations like this deter people from being a designated driver because whats the point in DD'ing if you're going to get a $500 fine just for being there?!!?! A stupid minor in consumption would get you a smaller fine!!