Georgia man faces jail for selling a subway token to a fellow passenger.

[jsalcedo]

When will the insanity end?



ATLANTA — Sometimes no good deed goes unpunished, even during the holiday season. Just ask one Atlanta subway rider.

Donald Pirone, 42, has been ordered to stand trial for allegedly selling a $1.75 subway token to a passenger who had trouble with the token vending machine. According to Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority officials, on Nov. 30, a transit police officer saw Pirone sell the token to the passenger at face value. The officer did not give Pirone a warning, deciding to handcuff him and give him a citation under a 1992 Georgia law that prohibits passengers from selling tokens to fellow riders.

But Pirone said he wasn't selling his token and was not trying to make a profit. He was only trying to help someone in need.

"I gave him a token, and I guess out of his generosity, he gave me the money for it," Pirone told WSB Radio. "But I didn't ask him for the money.

However, MARTA officials stand by the decision to cite and handcuff Pirone.

"Fare abuse is a chronic problem," MARTA spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year. & There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine."

Rep. John Lunsford has introduced a bill that would strike the law used to cite Pirone. The Georgia Legislature will convene in January to possibly consider the bill.

If convicted, Pirone could face up to a year in jail.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=89932

 

[DRZinn]

"Fare abuse is a chronic problem," MARTA spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year."

Explain to me, please, how they lose any money here? Every token was bought, presumably, so who cares whether it's used by the person who bought it from the machine? Every ride is paid for by a token which was paid for.

 

[Manedwolf]

Explain to me, please, how they lose any money here? Every token was bought, presumably, so who cares whether it's used by the person who bought it from the machine? Every ride is paid for by a token which was paid for.

I think it's called "a failed transit police officer with a Napoleon complex."

And considering the last time I went to Atlanta and had to ride on the subway, someone tried to sell me crack, I think they have other things they should be worrying about.

 

[dolanp]

I guess the officer got a little excited about the possibility of getting some 'action'...

<wiggam>'Take 'im away, boys!'</wiggam>

 

[SLCDave]

Explain to me, please, how they lose any money here? Every token was bought, presumably, so who cares whether it's used by the person who bought it from the machine? Every ride is paid for by a token which was paid for.

Maybe you can buy the tokens, say 20 at a time for a reduced price. Then, selling them at full value would reduce their profit margin.

Still, it seems like a waste of taxpayer-funded resources to me.

 

[migoi]

I'm sure that...

"customer service telephone" would have summoned a customer service representative in enough time for the gentleman to not miss his train, right?

Kind of the same thinking that powers those that believe picking up the telephone and dialing 911 will instantly transport multiple law enforcement officers to your abode in time to stop the large man standing at the foot of your bed from caving your head in with the claw hammer he has in his hand.

Self help is being extincted by morons in charge of stuff.

migoi

 

[kahr40]

Is there a transit system in the US that actually operates in the black without government help?

 

[kahr40]

Make that...
"is there a "public" transit system in the US that actually operates in the black without government help?"

 

[STiTkacik]

Wow, that's rediculous...

Being someone who grew up with the MARTA transit system, I must say that I never knew that selling tokens to others was illegal. I used to have friends give me money for tokens I didn't use all the time. And yes all of them were sold at face value...

I still don't see the problem here. I might if the tokens were being sold over the face value, but the same... I am confused to what the problem is...

 

[DRZinn]

Maybe you can buy the tokens, say 20 at a time for a reduced price.

I hadn't thought of that. But still, like you said, a waste of time. The cost of one arrest and prosecution would probably be more than they'd lose in a year.

 

[CAS700850]

Never ceases to amaze me that those in law enforcement are granted the authority to exercise discretion, and yet so many seem to miss that option when faced with a situation such as this.

:banghead:

Let's hope a prosecutor with a brain (no oxymoron jokes, please) gets this one resolved quickly.

 

[Rockstar]

There is a much greater chance that the prospective prosecutor has a brain (but in Atlanta, not much more of a chance) than the cretin MARTA cop. I'd wager that the average I.Q. of a MARTA cop would be under 90.

 

[fletcher]

There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine.

But that doesn't exactly help when you need to get somewhere, does it?

 

[Art Eatman]

Rockstar, I gave up reading the Atlanta unConstitution. From the news, there, I'd venture that you're exceedingly generous in your estimate of IQ.

On average, when an Atlantan's IQ hits 50, he oughta sell.

Art

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Explain to me, please, how they lose any money here? Every token was bought, presumably, so who cares whether it's used by the person who bought it from the machine? Every ride is paid for by a token which was paid for.

Beat me to it.

 

[beerslurpy]

Unfortunately, this sort of attitude is rampant among police, even ones that I would personally classify as nice guys. Where does it come from? After talking to a cop I know a while back, I have finally figured it out...

Many police seem to have 3 things prodding them on as they go about their business:
-need for career growth, which means proving they are doing their job, either by making felony arrests or just giving out tickets. This is prompted by less than stellar police wages (as a rule) and the way in which performance is measured.
-need to chase and arrest actual bad guys. If you asked the average person what cops are supposed to do, they would tell you "chase bad people and put them in jail." Every cop I have ever met feels the same way. They want to fight crime.
-a desire to work in "good departments" and patrol in "nice areas"

The problem is that in a normal situation (my definition) you have just enough police to fight real crime and dabble in petty infractions. Of course, if crime goes down, you suddenly have way too many police officers for the amount of bad guys. There is no longer any need for overtime and there is nothing to do either. What do the police do? Generate lots of ticket revenue and arrest people for petty BS- this augments the department budget and to gives them something to do.

I noticed this sort of thing a number of times. Whenever an area becomes suddenly upscale and low-crime, the local police all start going nuts over small things. This is why living in Hayward (near oakland) was so much more pleasant than living in Foster City (ritzy area near San Mateo). The cops were always busy chasing poor black people and left me alone. I have observed similar phenomena in New York City after the late 90s transition from high to low crime and in the Tampa/Clearwater area since the place became expensive.

Basically, you need to have police in proportion to the amount of crime. But unfortunately, all the police want to be stationed in the best areas. As a result, the rich neighborhoods are overpoliced and the poor ones are underpoliced. The poor people suffer due to high crime and the rich suffer from cops with ticket books.

 

[jsalcedo]

Good post beerslurpy.

I had suspected as much.

Reminds me of the time a friend of mine was ticketed while visiting south padre island. He was swimming in the ocean without his ID $175 fine

 

[rustymaggot]

beerslurpy, i think youve solved this one. i live in san luis obispo county, california. a few weeks ago i saw 3 patrol cars answer to a call about a homeless man playing his radio too loud. the cops blocked off a whole street(maybe not on purpose but they doubleparked on both sides of the street and stopped all traffic) i then saw 5 cops lecture the homeless guy about his radio for about 10 minutes and then they let him go on his way. now id expect 2 cops so they could cover eachothers butt if the homeless guy got nutty but 5 officers is a bit much.

maybe some of you remember the overkill regarding the san luis obispo mardi gras a few years ago. where a school teacher got arested for having one drink with dinner and then got a drunk in public arrest for standing outside the restaraunt smoking a cigarette after dinner.

ive been to oakland a few times. been to san jose, san fran , santa cruz, ect. i grew up in sacramento. ive never been bothered by any cops in the larger towns. its only in the nice places that the cops hassle people over the little things.

 

[HankB]

My favorite Officer Doofus story comes from New York City - a father and his little boy were walking down the street. The tyke had a toy balloon, which popped.

Officer Doofus issued a ticket to Dad for noise pollution. (He found the pop of the bursting balloon was too loud.)

 

[JJohnston015]

Amazing - I lived in Foster City myself for a while, and you're right. How many times did they not have Hillsdale Blvd. closed for the slightest little reason?

 

[MICHAEL T]

A another low IQ working as a city RENT A COP Will a few more of these big busts he might make it to the real police status and join the Atl. PD. Seems his IQ is on the mark.