A news report from Mexico shows one way of dealing with so-called 'graffiti artists'.
Police spray-painted the hair, shoes and buttocks of four teenagers to teach them not to paint graffiti on public property, it has been claimed.
The teens also say police in Mexico slapped and kicked them before covering them in paint.
They presented paint-stained shoes and photos of their painted heads as evidence.
Guadelupe's police department says several officers have been suspended while the matter is being investigated.
The youths were fined more than $200 before being released on Tuesday.
Guadelupe is outside the city of Monterrey.
I've seen the mess these so-called 'artists' leave behind, visually polluting railway rolling stock, walls and entire neighborhoods. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever, and I think a good slap upside the head would be appropriate for many of them.
However, I have to admit, I think these cops went rather too far. In my younger days, any cop catching a youngster behaving like that would give him a swift clip over the earhole, then drag him home to his parents, and watch while they gave him more of the same! That tended to sort out problems with 'no fuss, no muss'. To strip offenders and paint their backsides, and physically assault them like that, is going too far outside the boundaries, I think.
Still . . . if I caught one red-handed, boy, would I be tempted!
Peter
A few decades ago when superglue was new, a cop in my hometown caught an 18-yr old boy writing obscenity on the high school wall. The boy begged the cop to let him off since he was to leave in a few days to join the Marines. Being in jail, a strong possibility since court was held only once a week, could make in start in the USMC short and/or very unwelcome.
ReplyDeleteSo, he agreed to an alternate punishment. The cop superglued the spray paint cans to each of the boy's hands and a third upright on top of his head---and walked him the mile to his home. I was driving along the road and saw this kid walking home in front of the cop car.
The story was widespread but nothing happened to the cop. Most folks thought it to be most appropriate.
Dragging the boys home to the parents probably wouldn't do much good, because this is the second or third generation of lawlessness at work in Mexico. The police would be taking the boys home to parents who probably did as bad, or worse, when they were the kids' age.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to the idea of restitution? If you get caight spraying graffiti on a wall, you clean it ... the entire wall, not just your own contribution. And if you want to be slack about it, that's just fine to ... because you report, every morning, with your 'homeys' ragging on you, until it's done?
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