Police Arrest Penn State Partyers

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If you are currently enrolled in Penn State Altoona, I apologize in advance. I, thankfully am no longer enrolled there. Mr. Sales, whom I know personally, makes an incredibly valid arguement. In recent years the police force has gone out of control. Now, instead of targeting meth production (Altoona is still the meth producing capitol of Pennsylvania) they have begun targeting innocent college students. One might ask, why are they doing this? ... the answer is simple. Altoona is an impoverish city on the verge of economic collapse. Case and point: a crack head gets arrested (if you have been to Altoona you know there are plenty), he stays in jail wasting tax dollars and is unable to make bail. You arrest a college student, he/she or their parents pay the bail and fees immediately. It is simply a numbers game. Also, in the latter case, the police make their job much easier as they don't need to risk dealing with ACTUAL criminals. If you're thinking about going to Penn State Altoona, think again, if you own a house near it, sell it. Unless of course you feel like being harrassed by one of the least competent police forces I have ever observed.

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shitoteorry of AL 4:13PM July 08, 2010

What exactly is the "legal age of Adulthood"?

Does anyone know?

At 16 you may drive, and there fore make adult life and death decisions.

At 18 you may vote, die for your country in the military, sign legal contracts, smoke and have sex.

At 21 you may drink

At 24 you may have your own case opened at the assistance office, unless you get pregnant, or married before that.

So when does a person legally become an adult? And if it is at 18 then why is a person considered a second class citizen until 24?

If it's 21 as I always thought it was, then why do we let children drive, vote, die for us, enter into legal contracts, smoke and screw freely at 18???

It should be all one age, you are either a minor or an adult with full rights and responsibilities, anything else makes people second class citizens, which is illegal as far as I know.

Zermoid of PA 11:09AM September 13, 2009

It is not for police to decide whose guilty and whose not in a party they pretty much have to treat every body the same or they could be open for law suits. Hey the attorneys needs jobs to.

our laws are not as lenient as they were at one time, For one, Judges lost the ability to be lenient because of mandatory sentences and minimum sentences.

If students would form political groups have meetings and go to city council meetings they can begin to have a say in our government, Something older generations gave up. Then maybe they can stave off the police state we seem to be headed for in our big cities. I am in a small town where I can walk up to a police car and they say “hows it going” instead of ”How can I help you” but even then laws are more strict and policies are stricter, and police cannot decide in many cases to arrest you or not they got to do what they are told unless they were the one who caught you.

Insurance as most people know did not only mess up health care insurance it has messed up many parts of our lives and stole many of our freedoms and we blame it on the police or “The Government” instead of the real culprit which is the insurance companies. So in away the insurance companies are our new government where the people have little or no say.

Just my opinion

Don D. Brock

Don D. Brock of AZ 1:12AM September 13, 2009

leads to saying stupid things and getting in some kinds of trouble with people of the opposite sex and several other kinds of trouble with people of the same sex. Some kids wise up on this at 14, 16, 18, 20. Others don't---many not until decades later, after they have lived enough of the alcohol drama of accidents, adultery, breakups, fights, abuse, job loss and life failure. By then, of course, for too many there is also the bugaboo of chemical addiction to deal with as well.

As for the police? They have their own motivations which are unfortunately rooted in "catch-em-doing-something-and-run-em-in".

The proper use of law enforcement should be to catch whomever is selling/furnishing the alcohol to the underage kids to begin with.

For instance, one has to imagine that a virtual lake of beer from John and Cindy McCain's beer distributorship in Phoenix has found it's way to young people over decades of "distributing" in Arizona. How many of John and Cindy's direct customers get arrested? Enough?

Nah. That's why kids still get the stuff at Penn State (or in Arizona) and everywhere else.

Muser of NM 11:52AM September 12, 2009

howzatagain,

I think you missed the point of what Mr. Sales is saying. There may be 10 people drinking during a party attended by 25 people. The remaining 15 people are being arrested as well. Are they guilty by association?

You are correct about most college partyers being underage, yet I find most of them more responsible than the 21 to 25 year olds who can legally consume alcohol as most college partyers walk to the party location. They may consume alcohol, but for the most part they do not irresponsibly drive under the influance like most of the newly legal age drinkers who drive to the local corner inn and attempt to drive home. Lets give the kids in the apartment a break and get the drunk drivers off the road

Another area of underage drinking that continues to get my ire is when a 19 or 20 year old recon marine or army spec2, a young man who just did a 12 to 14 month tour in Iraq, a young man who may have seen team members killed or injured, comes back home after his tour. The same young man goes to a local drinking establishment and orders a beer and is told he is too young to drink, we cannot serve you. I'm glad I do not own that bar as I would not have the nerve to tell him no.

I've given you two examples, two seperate career paths, with one commonality, underage drinking. Both are old enough to vote, all are old enough to die in war, all can legally sign a binding contract, yet we prosecute them if they want to have a drink. With all the issues in this country(on a local, state,and national level), don't you think it's time for us to step back and take a look at things and quite worrying about a stray beer can in your side yard.

If the local police are using these arrests of underage drinkers as a source of easy revenue, then it is resources lost. Their time would be better served protecting us from burglery and assult.

Loanshark13m of PA 4:32AM September 12, 2009

Umm -- if you don't want to get in trouble, obey the law? Last I checked most college students are underage.

Marty of NY 7:42PM September 11, 2009

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