$900

$900 is the amount I would be fined for leaving the house today according to this proposed ordinance featured in todays T&G.

The ordinance, developed by the Police Department, Worcester District Attorney’s office and city officials, would fine people $300 for carrying knives.

What exactly leads the Worcester Chief of Police Gary Gemme and District Attorney Joe Early Jr. to believe that an individual who as decided to commit manslaughter will be detered by a $300 fine? Seriously, thats the best you could come up with?

Rank and file members of the WPD and DA’s office seriously need to think about distancing themselves publicly from their respective superiors and unions as they continue to make decisions which have little to no impact on their stated goals, but instead foster a sense of contempt and distrust amongst the public they serve. This ordinance is silly and stands to make much of the good work you do appear silly as a result.

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Post by: Brendan | October 27, 2008 | Filed Under politics 

Comments

6 Responses to “$900”

  1. Mike on October 27th, 2008 10:51 am

    These days I carry a very small knife, but I’ve been thinking of getting a Leatherman–I used to carry one, and it was super-useful. This ordinance would ban that. What the hell?

  2. Kevin on October 27th, 2008 2:27 pm

    brendan:

    Why do you need to carry 3 differnet knives though?

  3. Brendan on October 27th, 2008 2:37 pm

    Who said anything about need, Kevin? We can play that game with anything.
    How many neck ties do you need? How many pairs of sneakers? Police officers? Teachers? Cars?

    Deciding what is and is not the proper amount of consumption is a rather slippery slope, no?

    It’s not as though I’m carrying multiple machetes and swords on me (but if I were would it really matter?). I have a small folding knife in my pocket, a leatherman multi-tool in my bag and a smaller muti-tool key chain. I can’t imagine a rational person being threatened by the presence of any of those tools, but if this ordinance passes all three will be criminal.

  4. lincoln on October 28th, 2008 9:03 am

    Is tonight the “vote”? Are you going to be there?

  5. Taco Joe on October 28th, 2008 9:35 am

    I would leave my knife at home but I find it hard to slice my apple with my Glock 33.

  6. People are Talking : Real Worcester - Worcester News and Blogs on October 28th, 2008 10:20 pm

    [...] us his opinion here on Real Worcester. Buck let us know how he feels about it all not once, not twice, but three times, and I’m sure there’s more to come. Scott Zoback has been keeping tabs [...]



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