Big Brother gone crazy: Police ticketing anyone who curses

MI - Swear in downtown Brighton near the Imagination Station playground, and there’s a good chance you’ll be getting a ticket.

Colin Andersen learned this lesson the hard way.

Upset that his friend had been ticketed for skateboarding in downtown Brighton and told to leave, Andersen said he was simply venting when he said, “This is f------ bull----.”

The 19-year-old Brighton resident was hanging out with his friends on a sunny April day in a parking lot next to the pavilion and Imagination Station; Andersen said he swore under his breath and no children heard him.

However, a Brighton Police Department officer heard him and issued him a ticket for disorderly conduct.

“What got me to start arguing a little bit, they were asking all of us to leave because he got a ticket,” Andersen said. “That’s not fair. We’re just standing around.”

Brighton Police Chief Tom Wightman said it’s OK for teenagers to hang out downtown, and the city doesn’t have a law prohibiting certain words.

“That’s fine if they want to behave and use the facility like anybody else,” Wightman said. “It’s when they misbehave (that) it becomes an issue. We’re going to be watching.”

Wightman said the playground is popular, especially with families and young children. Sometimes, police are called due to teenagers or young adults acting disorderly.

“That’s what gets on our radar, their behavior,” he said.

Wightman said city ordinances prohibit disorderly conduct, including language that causes a breach of the peace. He said the conduct must be considered within the totality of the circumstances in which it occurs. He said the offensive language was used in the “immediate vicinity of a municipal playground occupied by very young children.”

“The Brighton Police Department is particularly committed to the protection of young children who are attempting to enjoy our wonderful downtown park and playground,” he said. “Older teens and young adults who choose to ‘hang out’ near the children’s area need to know that their conduct will be carefully scrutinized.”

Police now openly admit they're spying on our youth and their conduct is being SCRUTINIZED! What have our police turned into?

Andersen fought the ticket but lost when he went before a Livingston County District Court magistrate to present his side of what happened. He was fined $200.

You can bet the DHS Michigan Fusion Center is keeping records of all youths who've cursed & police view as unruly.

Below are two recent examples of how DHS & police are ignoring our constitutional rights:

In 2012 police in Middleborough MA. illegally ticketed people for swearing and in 2011 Philadelphia police were forced to stop ticketing citizens for cursing.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20140519/NEWS01/305190002/1002/rss01