Over the weekend two officers in Brooklyn handed out summonses to four people in the Lafayette Gardens Playground in Bed-Stuy for eating their doughnuts in a playground unaccompanied by a minor. After being made to wait for half an hour while the officers wrote their summons, it turns out that one of the ticketed took out his iPhone and tried to get the police to explain what was going on. He didn't get very far:
The officer, who said he had already explained the situation, was not amused by the addition of a camera ("Can you not record this so I can speak to you?") and reiterates that the rules are hung up outside of the playground. And while the ticketed man in question seems frustrated by the circumstances ("why are you giving me a summons") the cop—who likes to play basketball and who was overheard bragging to his partner afterwards "Yo, I'm going to be on YouTube!"—remains calm throughout the minute clip.
By law there is no question that the three women and one man who were ticketed were in the wrong. The question at hand remains why the NYPD, which is supposed to practice "Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect," would rather ticket harmless doughnut-eaters on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon than simply ask them to move along.
