<story><title>Connecticut parents arrested for letting kids walk to Dunkin&apos; Donuts</title><url>https://reason.com/2023/01/30/dunkin-donuts-parents-arrested-kids-cops-freedom/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>notch898a</author><text>As backwards as it sounds my time in near-autocratic 3rd world I&amp;#x27;ve felt the most free.  Worst case scenario the police can be bribed for a crisp $20.  As long as someone isn&amp;#x27;t doing some horrible shit (like real violence) a lot can be overlooked.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;(I actually also think folks here overestimate how hard it is to get guns&lt;p&gt;Yeah I often imagine myself in the scenario of what to do if I ended up in Schengen or something and without arms.  I calculated it would take me about 2 weeks to print an FGC-9 and source the various ammo components (by doing things like using primers from nail gun ammo etc this can be done all from unregulated sources).</text></item><item><author>yamtaddle</author><text>I think a lot of folks in the US don&amp;#x27;t realize that even some (some!) countries we think of as authoritarian &lt;i&gt;feel freer&lt;/i&gt;, day to day, than the US does, let alone other liberal democracies.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but having some wine at your picnic in the park may get you a citation.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but, this article.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but civil forfeiture.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but you&amp;#x27;ll spend tons of your &amp;quot;free&amp;quot; time fighting with our healthcare system, should you ever actually need to use it. Ditto the time and contortions required to navigate our benefits systems if you ever hit our &amp;quot;social safety net&amp;quot;. In either case, you&amp;#x27;re not gonna be feeling all that &amp;quot;freedom&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but an LOLWTF-high incarceration rate.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but are constantly scared shitless of civil litigation and liability and there are rules and disclaimers posted on every flat surface.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but no mandatory annual leave, with the result that for most people 2 weeks off a year is considered decent. How many people feel &amp;quot;free&amp;quot; at their job?&lt;p&gt;But at least we have the 2nd, to protect our freedom. Seems to be working great. (I actually also think folks here overestimate how hard it is to get guns in some countries with effective gun control—it doesn&amp;#x27;t have to mean &amp;quot;no guns&amp;quot;, and often doesn&amp;#x27;t)</text></item><item><author>sitkack</author><text>&amp;gt; Eastern bloc level authoritarianism&lt;p&gt;That is uncalled for, I know a ton of people that grew up in Warsaw Pact countries and they could in fact walk to Babushka&amp;#x27;s Dumpling Shop and back without getting their parents arrested.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d recommend people skip the article and go directly the advocacy site it links to and affect change locally. The event happened in 2019, involves the typical dumb ACAB trope and then is swept away.&lt;p&gt;They most likely dropped charges because it was an unlawful arrest and the parents could have sued and most likely won. When the DA found out they most likely shut the whole thing down.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;letgrow.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;state-policy-maps&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;letgrow.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;state-policy-maps&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>COGlory</author><text>This makes my blood boil. It&amp;#x27;s obvious that Killingly cops are just bored assholes on complete power trips. In general, centralization of power leads to unequal society. There should be quick and immediate recourse against police officers acting like this. No police officer should feel safe or beyond swift reproach when making comments like the ones in this article, yet there is absolutely no justice available for those affected. Even in a best-case scenario where charges are dropped a few days later, this is the psychological equivalent of a home invasion, and attempted kidnapping of their children. Dropping charges is not justice. Those officers should lose their jobs (but won&amp;#x27;t, because Killingly, like all of the &amp;#x27;Quiet Corner&amp;#x27; is a complete boys club), and everyone involved in the decision tree should be heavily scrutinized. The town should issue a public apology. And whoever may or may not have called 911 should be publicly berated.&lt;p&gt;This is unacceptable. This is Eastern bloc level authoritarianism. Police are out of control.&lt;p&gt;No police officer in the country should feel comfortable making those threats. They are out of control</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>scrose</author><text>&amp;gt; As backwards as it sounds my time in near-autocratic 3rd world I&amp;#x27;ve felt the most free. Worst case scenario the police can be bribed for a crisp $20. As long as someone isn&amp;#x27;t doing some horrible shit (like real violence) a lot can be overlooked.&lt;p&gt;In the US, flashing a PBA card[0] or the fire department&amp;#x2F;ambulance alternative will get you out of most of what police consider ‘low-level’ infractions(ie. Covering a license plate, speeding, etc…).&lt;p&gt;Or in less corrupt cases(like the ones I unfortunately have used mine for), it gets the cops to leave you alone or listen to you when you get profiled for no good reason.&lt;p&gt;I guess it’s technically not a bribe since no money is exchanging hands, but last I checked, each PBA card raises ~$150&amp;#x2F;year for the police union.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.the-sun.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4212777&amp;#x2F;what-is-a-pba-card&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.the-sun.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;4212777&amp;#x2F;what-is-a-pba-card&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Connecticut parents arrested for letting kids walk to Dunkin&apos; Donuts</title><url>https://reason.com/2023/01/30/dunkin-donuts-parents-arrested-kids-cops-freedom/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>notch898a</author><text>As backwards as it sounds my time in near-autocratic 3rd world I&amp;#x27;ve felt the most free.  Worst case scenario the police can be bribed for a crisp $20.  As long as someone isn&amp;#x27;t doing some horrible shit (like real violence) a lot can be overlooked.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;(I actually also think folks here overestimate how hard it is to get guns&lt;p&gt;Yeah I often imagine myself in the scenario of what to do if I ended up in Schengen or something and without arms.  I calculated it would take me about 2 weeks to print an FGC-9 and source the various ammo components (by doing things like using primers from nail gun ammo etc this can be done all from unregulated sources).</text></item><item><author>yamtaddle</author><text>I think a lot of folks in the US don&amp;#x27;t realize that even some (some!) countries we think of as authoritarian &lt;i&gt;feel freer&lt;/i&gt;, day to day, than the US does, let alone other liberal democracies.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but having some wine at your picnic in the park may get you a citation.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but, this article.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but civil forfeiture.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but you&amp;#x27;ll spend tons of your &amp;quot;free&amp;quot; time fighting with our healthcare system, should you ever actually need to use it. Ditto the time and contortions required to navigate our benefits systems if you ever hit our &amp;quot;social safety net&amp;quot;. In either case, you&amp;#x27;re not gonna be feeling all that &amp;quot;freedom&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but an LOLWTF-high incarceration rate.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but are constantly scared shitless of civil litigation and liability and there are rules and disclaimers posted on every flat surface.&lt;p&gt;We have elections... but no mandatory annual leave, with the result that for most people 2 weeks off a year is considered decent. How many people feel &amp;quot;free&amp;quot; at their job?&lt;p&gt;But at least we have the 2nd, to protect our freedom. Seems to be working great. (I actually also think folks here overestimate how hard it is to get guns in some countries with effective gun control—it doesn&amp;#x27;t have to mean &amp;quot;no guns&amp;quot;, and often doesn&amp;#x27;t)</text></item><item><author>sitkack</author><text>&amp;gt; Eastern bloc level authoritarianism&lt;p&gt;That is uncalled for, I know a ton of people that grew up in Warsaw Pact countries and they could in fact walk to Babushka&amp;#x27;s Dumpling Shop and back without getting their parents arrested.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d recommend people skip the article and go directly the advocacy site it links to and affect change locally. The event happened in 2019, involves the typical dumb ACAB trope and then is swept away.&lt;p&gt;They most likely dropped charges because it was an unlawful arrest and the parents could have sued and most likely won. When the DA found out they most likely shut the whole thing down.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;letgrow.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;state-policy-maps&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;letgrow.org&amp;#x2F;resources&amp;#x2F;state-policy-maps&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>COGlory</author><text>This makes my blood boil. It&amp;#x27;s obvious that Killingly cops are just bored assholes on complete power trips. In general, centralization of power leads to unequal society. There should be quick and immediate recourse against police officers acting like this. No police officer should feel safe or beyond swift reproach when making comments like the ones in this article, yet there is absolutely no justice available for those affected. Even in a best-case scenario where charges are dropped a few days later, this is the psychological equivalent of a home invasion, and attempted kidnapping of their children. Dropping charges is not justice. Those officers should lose their jobs (but won&amp;#x27;t, because Killingly, like all of the &amp;#x27;Quiet Corner&amp;#x27; is a complete boys club), and everyone involved in the decision tree should be heavily scrutinized. The town should issue a public apology. And whoever may or may not have called 911 should be publicly berated.&lt;p&gt;This is unacceptable. This is Eastern bloc level authoritarianism. Police are out of control.&lt;p&gt;No police officer in the country should feel comfortable making those threats. They are out of control</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>giggles_01</author><text>You should try to live there as an average local person with average income and without &amp;quot;connections&amp;quot;. &amp;quot;Crisp $20&amp;quot; in some countries might be quite a lot.&lt;p&gt;Also: I&amp;#x27;ve seen this many times, foreigners from rich countries get completely different treatment.</text></comment>