Texas Woman, 97, Cuffed on Ticket Charge
A 97-year-old woman was handcuffed and taken to jail in a squad car for failing to pay a traffic ticket, but her son is questioning police officers' treatment of the former teacher.Harriette "Dolly" Kelton had an outstanding warrant for failing to pay a traffic ticket when Highland Park police stopped her last week for having an expired registration and inspection sticker.
Kelton, who has lived in the northern Dallas suburb for at least 60 years, is a former teacher at The Hockaday School. She was in police custody for about two hours before her attorney arrived and was released on her own recognizance.
"A warrant begins with the words 'you are hereby commanded to arrest,' " Detective Randy Millican, Highland Park's public information officer, told The Dallas Morning News in Wednesday's editions. "How do you decide who do you arrest and who you don't? How about at age 90 but not at 91 and up? How about between 17 and 20?"
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Or we can ask ourselves why we fine, arrest, and jail people for the noncrimes of not using turn signals, speeding, or not having your state licenses arranged just so. I'd rather direct my anger at the lawmakers and their constituents who asked that these laws be enacted.
UPDATE(5/14/2004 9:02am)
The cops have backed down in the face of public pressure.
Nonagenarian's Arrest Spurs Policy Change
Police guidelines calling for anyone wanted on a warrant to be arrested have been revamped following the public outcry over an officer's arrest of a 97-year-old woman.[...]
Officers in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park now can use discretion in arrest cases if they have a supervisor's approval. Several factors will be weighed when making that decision, including physical disabilities or old age. The same criteria will be used in determining if the person needs to be handcuffed.
The department was inundated with e-mails and calls from around the country after the April 22 arrest of Dolly Kelton.
The revisions clarify the options officers have in arresting offenders, said Detective Randy Millican, public information officer for the Highland Park Department of Public Safety.
"I think it's appropriate to say we have defined some discretionary areas without placing at risk our officers," he said.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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