Officer gave boy, 7, a ticket for throwing ball at his truck

After giving a 7-year-old boy a ticket for throwing a ball which hit an officer's truck, that officer has now been suspended. Cody Chapelle claimed he wrote a citation for third-degree criminal mischief as a result of the incident, taking place on October 16, 2009. Another officer, Police Chief Robert White, said that after an investigation on Chapelle's truck, there was no damage to the truck due to the ball hitting it. Why was the ticket written? It was stated by White that the ticket was an attempt in trying to persuade the child's mother to discipline the seven year old.
White also said that, "One of our greatest attributes we have as police officers is common sense," and he also said that Chapelle had "showed absolutely no common sense." Chapelle was suspended for 15 days, and his attorney was planning on appealing against it. It was also reported that the suspension letter included a statement that claimed that Chapelle yelled at the mother and told her she was a bad parent, which Chapelle was disciplined for doing so.

Can we say "Overreacting"? Honestly, a 7-year-old kid just threw a ball at the truck. If it was a rock, if somebody had the intention of seriously injuring the officer, then yes, a ticket would be reasonable. Yes, sometimes kids need to get taught lessons, but by giving him a ticket? There was no damage to the officer OR to his truck. A warning that throwing things at cars can be dangerous and outright rude would suffice. If the police officers are starting to get picky over the little things, what are they doing about the big issues going on? People will start to wonder if they are spending this much time and effort on a small issue, do they have enough time to fix bigger problems Sometimes, you have to pick your battles. Is a 7-year-old throwing a ball at a truck a battle worth fighting? How about trying to tackle things that are bigger, things that actually hurt people that are causing deaths? Wouldn't trying to stop people from going into stores and shooting people be a better problem to try and fix, rather than a child throwing a ball?



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41172540/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/