I actually think her yard looks pretty good compared to some of my neighbors.

I bet she fires up the sprinklers now damnit!

What the F? Using excessive force on a harmless 70 yr. old woman. That's the part of the story that makes me sick. The officer should be fired, not on paid administative leave. Who cares if her yard looks like that. Mine looks like that on purpose because I killed it to start over with a better lawn than 10 different species of fescues, Ryes, Poas, Bermudas and what ever else was in it.

iTS ENOUgh tht seniors have to choose between food and medicine, dont make them put lawn watering on the priority list.

jerks!

Hmm. I guess she shouldn't be living in a town with requirements on the lawn care.

Excessive force? To a point--she did refuse to give her identifying information to an officer who was charging her with a violation. Jail's a bit much.

The ticket was called for, however. Seventy or thirty, you have to follow the laws.

Well stephen, I think she's pretty lucky. Around here the cops just shoot the old ladies then ask questions later.

If you don't "sign the ticket" they take you to jail. No exceptions for old ladies. Now if the cop beat her over the head with a billy club and mashed her head to the sidewalk while hog tying her then yeeah I think that's grounds for dismissal.

I think a phone call to the nearest ACLU office would begat a very juicy law(n) suit.

If you file a lawn suit, do you end up rolling in green?

What a frivilous lawsuit that would be. I feel sorry for her, but the law is the law. She wouldn't give her name and tried to go back in her house. As far as the cop knows she could have been going for a gun.

Man, what I wouldn't give for a loser pays legal system.

Folks with the "lawman" is alright right mentality of Heels fan is why our forefathers worried enough to make our govt a limited govt where citizens had all the power not granted to the govt specifically. The whole Bill of Rights was protections to the citizen from govt abusing them.

Roughing up and arresting a 70 old lady for not watering her grass is gross abuse of the ticketing power citizens give cops and EXPECT them to use with reason and restraint. A 70 year old lady who had never been involved with cops and never been arrested could easily have had a heart attack.

All because a cop that was already way out of line was going to show her who was boss. Besides, a lady answering a door may not even have been the homeowner, the ONLY one possibly liable for a ticket for the lawn ordinance the cop obstensibly was there to "enforce". The "unknown" lady had done nothing in the cops presence allowed him to invade her privacy by starting the investigation of the citizen. That is why we have a small thing in this country called due process so cops can't just stop you, or pick you out of a crowd and start investigating you for no purpose.

The govt has to have SOME reason, also known as probable cause, to start using the power we give the govt against you.

I'm pretty sure if he wanted to ticket the homeowner, which is all he should have done WORST case scenario, he obviously had the power to get the home owner's name and address from govt records either before or after he showed up. Of course, that would have required him to do his job instead of rousting a little old lady and putting her life in jeopardy just to prove to her that she had no rights when it came to not doing what he demanded.

"Going for a gun" what an idiotic excuse to make for a cop in the process of abusing the power the citizens entrusted him with. Yeah, she was probably going to shoot the hostage she had in her house since a cop showed up and what he should have done was kill her on the spot. Yeah, extreme sarcasm in response to such moronic excuses for abuse of govt power.

Our govt and police should not be feared like the Gestapo. When they are making bad choices and exceeding their authority citizens should be able to do something but cower at their feet. Of course, there are right ways to do it. Retreating to the safety of ones home to make some calls about a cop that is going crazy over a the lawn not being watered seems very reasonable to me. So, let's force her to fall to the pavement, leave her bruised and bleeding and cuff her.

Some believe "our" govt, and any and all of its agents and officers can do no wrong. Some believe that supporting everything the govt does is the right and patriotic thing to do. But, thankfully our founders knew the govt is composed of individuals that are all just as subject to shortcomings as me and you, and therefore need to be given only LIMITED authority over the rest of us.

That anyone in this country could find a way to justify abuse of that authority in the name of not watering grass is scary, and sad.

That's ridiculous. First, I have to ask "What lawn?" She's going to water dirt? Second, how many places actually have a law like this? As far as I know, Massachusetts doesn't anywhere. Is it supposed to be so no property is an eyesore? It doesn't really make any sense. Third, can I have my neighbor arrested for neglect? *lol*

Third, can I have my neighbor arrested for neglect?

Probably not. However, I live in an area with laws about turf grasses, just not about watering. Height must be under one foot. If the height is not under one foot, you'll get a very expensive ticket and an even more expensive lawn mowing one week later if it isn't taken care of.

That's $200 for the first incident, $1000 for the second and successive. This is put in as a one-time tax on your property. Fail to pay it and your home will be auctioned.

The law passed by a landslide.

There are, however, no rules on maintenance. If you don't water and it dies, fine. Weedy? No problem as long as they're under a foot. Killed the lawn? No big deal. Putting in gardens? Great.

Our local ordinances are like Morph's. Keep your yard looking like that woman had her yard looking and she would be ticketed immediately where I live.

But they wouldn't toss her in jail for Godsakes.

Question, why don't some of her neighbors help her out? I would.

Rcnaylor, you talk about excessive force from police in this situation and you're right, however, what about the G*d Da**ed neighbors. Help the old lady out for Godsakes. Give a few bucks to pay for her water bill. I would!! ESPECIALLY if she was my next door neighbor.

I'd buy some peat, compost and spread that over her lawn, water it in with MY HOSE and expect her to let me sip my whiskey and smoke a big fat cigar on her front porch when I was done!! LOL!!

It AIN'T just the police Rcnaylor!

ESPECIALLY if she was my next door neighbor.

True, but seventy is very relative. :-) My mother at 65 did 10 cubic yards of mulch in two days. Dad at 67 is in bad enough shape that he can't stand out in heat for more than ten minutes before toppling over.

Some of it also depends on treatment. If she were a nice lady who was clearly incapable of doing it, sure. If she were the stereotypical mean old woman, I'm not going to expose myself to her attitude.

Case in point, my neighbor--the same age as I am--just got cited for his lawn. No, I didn't call it in. The township discovered it on their rather regular inspections--and his passed 2 1/2 feet in the back. Could I have mowed his back yard? Yes. Do I? Certainly not. He does nothing, and he's unpleasant to anybody who does do anything.

Should be between code enforcement and the homeowner not sworn officers.

'Should be between code enforcement and the homeowner not sworn officers."

Exactly. The officer was sent home for the day and charges were dropped. At least the police dept admitted it was out of line.

Well unfortunately my neighbor doesn't let it get over a foot. Right AT a foot he scalps it bald. It's nothing but dead grass, clover, dandelions and other weeds, and of course it all spreads over into my yard.

and of course it all spreads over into my yard.

Ditto. The aforementioned next-door neighbor mows when it gets really tall and it's choked with weeds.

I have to admit, on cloudy nights in the dark of the moon you may catch me (wearing black) stepping over eight to twenty feet onto his side and spraying Weed-B-Gone.

Me? Passive-aggressive? Naw.

Obviously the cop could have handled this much better, but the story is a bit misleading - at least in the headline. The officer tried to just write her a ticket. She wouldn't give her name, refused to sign it, and tried to go back into the house. That is why she was arrested. The officer messed up by letting the situation escalate like that, but he didn't go to her house and arrest her for not watering the lawn.

Imagine if you tried to do that while getting a speeding ticket - refusing to give your name or license and then rolling up your window and locking the door. How do you think that would go over?

bill

we are talking about a 70 year old woman not a middle aged or young punk. I have no problem with enforcing the law or mailing her a ticket but the officer could have caused her to have a heart attack or something. Imagine if that would have happened how the officer would have felt. where i live they have red light cameras and they mail the ticket with your picture. why not do that, take a picture of her yard and mail her the ticket.