The broken window theory of policing is good in concept. The problem occurs when you have overzealous policing for every minor infraction.

This is an example.

They can't control us until they turn us all into criminals. Anyone who still buys the "I'm innocent, and I won't be punished because the truth will prevail." should have a chat with the guys from the Duke Lacrosse team, or George Zimmerman. All it takes is for you to look cross-eyed at the wrong person with a Napoleon complex, and your life is ruined.
I used to have friends over all the time. We would sit on my front porch, have a few beers and listen to music (not too loud, and always off before 10pm). I was a considerate neighbor. I had one of those crabby neighbors that no matter what, they would complain, so I always knew I was going to get a visit right around sunset. The cops would pull up, look everyone over to see if we had magically turned under-21 again (I wish!) and then shake their heads and drive away.
My last party at that house was a special one, in the crabby neighbor's honor. I asked my friends to bring the most craptastic music they could find, and about 2pm I started *blasting* it. Shatner's "Lucy in the sky with Diamonds", Nimoy's "Hobbit" song, Doris Day, Tiny Tim. But the absolute winner for 'worst ever sound dragged from a dying cow being thrown from a plane' was the French Bagpipe Music. That was terribad. I played that album twice ^^

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt." - from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

"Hey, why run after a purse snatcher and break a sweat and all when you can just pass out tickets to a bunch of law-abiding people on a stoop?"

"...the NYPD has so much time and money as to drive around neighborhoods looking for hyper-technical violations of petty statutes."

Giving tickets to or arresting peaceful citizens is a lot safer than confronting actual criminals who might fight back. And every modern, professional law enforcement officer knows that his first and foremost duty is to keep himself safe.

"This is representative of the kind of overpolicing..."

Overpolicing. I'm so tired of hearing that term. That's just a symptom partly caused by too many cops completely lacking maturity, character and integrity. Very few cops are morally qualified to be cops. Many of them act like punks, bullies and thugs, and some are outright criminals. And all the rest look the other way or actively support and cover up for them.

Any police officer or other law enforcement officer who cannot or will not do his or her job without committing crimes against other people is a shit stain on society that needs to be wiped up.

I wish the police would see that this sort of thing hurts them as much as it hurt everyone else.

People just hitting legal drinking age now barely remember 9/11. When they see cops, they don't think, "They're heroes who ran into collapsing buildings to save people's lives." They think, "That guys reminds me of the prick who gave me a ticket for drinking beer on my own stoop."

If we're subjected to this sort of petty thuggery even once, when big things happen, like police corruption scandals and charges of brutality, few people are inclined to side with the cops when they say things like, "We're not all like that." No amount of "Meet Officer Bob, your friendly neighborhood police officer" PR crap is going to override the memory of a personal injustice.

Shame they can't sue the city, or that cop.

I'm sorry officer, I don't have to identify myself (or talk to you). I'm on private property and not breaking any law. Thank you for your time and concern.

Ok, 've just been lurking for ages, but I gotta ask: Can anyone in the US explain the purpose of a law that prohibits drinking in public?

Here, in Switzerland, I often see someone in the train having an after-work beer. I've been known to take a bottle of beer with me when walking the dogs in the evening, after a long day. People in parks or at the beach will have a picnic, including a nice bottle of wine.

What weird puritan streak makes this illegal in the US???

It's silly in part because it's so arbitrary. I can drink in public if I'm at an outdoor restaurant, for example. So if I'm drinking at an establishment that pays the government its protection fee...I mean license fee...I can have a glass of wine in full view of everyone.

But don't you see? New York, CA, Illinois, all run by leftists. Not Dems or Repubs, leftists (though nominally Dems).

After wading through some of the comments about this story on several blogs and forums, I found it interesting that both sides are pointing the finger at each other.

Right-leaning people say it's because this is the result of Big Government. Left-leaning people say this is the result of the heavy-handed law-and-order society conservatives love. The mayor of New York is a Democrat-turned Republican-turned-Independent (in others words, an opportunist), so I'm not sure where that leaves us.

Personally, I think it's because New York City really needs the cash.

Telling people you're going to raise their taxes will get you bound, gagged and tossed into a river. But charging people fines goes under the radar, because people think, "If I don't break the law, I won't have to pay the fine. Only those OTHER people will have to pay it." Except it's impossible to not break the law, so we all fail. It's a sneaky way of raising taxes without becoming that guy who raised taxes.

Bradley:

the purpose of a law that prohibits drinking in public?

My understanding is that it's not quite puritanical, but more caste-based. To prevent the bums/hobos from basically falling all over the street drunk.

At least, that's how it started.

Kind of why it's illegal to sleep under the bridges, tends not to affect most of the important people.

There was an issue in Texas awhile back where the cops were arresting patrons of a bar INSIDE a hotel, for public intoxication.

How stupid can you get?

There was an issue in Texas awhile back where the cops were arresting patrons of a bar INSIDE a hotel, for public intoxication.

How stupid can you get?

How drunk were they? Why were the cops there?

Easy bust Steve.