Pantellerite’s question about “one phone call” reminded me of another movie/TV cop cliche, currently seen in a VW commercial. That is, can police in pursuit of a criminal legally take your car to continue that pursuit? Of course this may be something that depends on state & local law; does anyone know of any specific instances of this?
Well in Texas a sheriff can force you to be part of a posse and you have to provide your own transportation,food and ammunition if told to and if you got it ( you will be reimbursed) sooo… I reckon.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
My s.o. is a cop - he says it’s bullshit; can’t do it. Your car is private property and a cop can’t commandeer it no matter what.
But he could ask real nicely though, right?
Yer pal,
Satan
A snippet of why I like to hear from Satan and don’t care about the behind closed doors stuff.
I don’t know about the legalities, but my grandfather and my mother have told me it was not unusual in 1920’s New York for a police officer to step up on the running board and ask grandad to pursue a fleeting figure while the officer hung on the exterior. I imagine insurance was a whole different ball game then. I don’t know, I wasn’t there.
They did oblige the officers.
Well…
“Not unusual” if it was in a Warner Bros. film of the period.
I have only been a gun-totin’, badge-wearin’, donut-eatin’ officer in Florida, so your mileage may vary, but here goes:
Florida State Statutes (1999)
“843.06 Neglect or refusal to aid peace officers.–Whoever, being required in the name of the state by any officer of the Florida Highway Patrol, police officer, beverage enforcement agent, or watchman, neglects or refuses to assist him or her in the execution of his or her office in a criminal case, or in the preservation of the peace, or the apprehending or securing of any person for a breach of the peace, or in case of the rescue or escape of a person arrested upon civil process, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree…”
Gosh, even a watchman can conscript you!
If you were charged with refusing to aid an officer, I presume that the reasonableness of the officer’s demand would be considered, though the statute doesn’t make any mention of “reasonableness” as being pertinent.
WHAT is a “beverage enforcement agent”???
They hang around at McDonalds. When someone asks for a Pepsi, they make sure that the underpaid, overworked employee says “Is a Coke allright?” If he/she forgets, then all sorts of trouble ensues, most of which is so graphic and horrible, it’s unprintable. So do that cashier a favor, LOOK AT THE BEVERAGE MENU BEFORE ORDERING. You never know when the beverage enforcement agents are around.
“I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms.” -The Secret of Monkey Island
That’s only true for the Division of Carbonated Beverages, Bureau of Retail Delivery. Most of the other beverage control agents have the daunting task of ensuring that restaurant guests order, and waiters suggest, the correct wine with the main courses ordered.
Don’t forget the Maternal Division of the Beverage Enforcement Commission: “Drink your milk or no dessert for you!”
Thanks for the statute, Raza.
I believe the Maternal Division is also in charge of enforcing public breastfeeding statutes.
“If ignorance were corn flakes, you’d be General Mills.”
Cecil Adams
The Straight Dope
Is a beverage enforcement agent the Florida version of a “Revenooer”?
Yes, but I think of revenoooooers going after moonshiners, and often Federal (BATF) rather than state. In Flawda, the ABC agents (alcoholic beverage control) spend much of their time checking up on bars and the like to ensure they are acting and serving within the confines of their license, and checking for sales to underage customers.
I thought the beverage enforcment agents were the guys at the self-serve stations of the fast food joints, to make sure that you pored a Coke, and not a Sprite, and also to see that you fill your cup with enough ice.