real world? U mean the Homeland Police State? from our local paper today...
(U have to live here to understand the true impact of this irony. There are two beaches down the road on the same street filled with locals drinking, doing drug deals, occasionally beating up tourists if they feel the urge...and the Po-lice drive right by all day long.)
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DRINKING ARREST
Wrong sip, wrong place
I am a retired woman
who will be 70 this year.
Formerly, I worked as a
social worker for Children’s
Protective Services for
Sacramento County, and
prior to that I was hired
by the state of Hawaii as
probation officer in the
Juvenile Division of Family
Court. I have no criminal
record. My husband was
a deputy sheriff on the
mainland. We are good
people.
Yesterday, I was arrested,
handcuffed and put into a
paddy wagon with the words
“Dare to not do drugs”
printed on the side and
fingerprinted and booked at
the police station like I was
shooting up the most illegal
drug in public. I did not
realize I was even breaking
any law when I took one sip
of beer that a tourist from
Alaska bought at the ABC
store across the street from
the beach at the pier. We
were treated like we were on
“the most wanted” list. We
were embarrassed in public
and not treated with much
respect by these young cops.
I had loaned my car to
my granddaughter for a job
interview, shopping, etc. and
decided to go for a swim and
get some sun when I met
52-year-old Kathleen from
Alaska. She was vacationing
here for two weeks. (Her
first trip — and I am sure
it will be her last.) Neither
one of us had brought any
water or anything to drink,
and after two hours she
suggested we go up to the
restaurant Paleo’s, But I told
her my granddaughter was
going to look for me by the
seawall. So, she crossed the
street and bought a beer and
came back. I remained there
in case my granddaughter
came with my car.
She had the can of beer
in a paper bag and was very
discreet. We were not being
loud or disturbing the peace
in any way. Neither one of
us had been drinking any
alcohol at all prior to her
buying a beer. I was not
aware of “no alcohol” signs
like I have seen at some
parks in Hawaii. I would
have expected the police
to just give us a warning
if we were committing a
crime that we were totally
unaware of, but instead we
were treated like horrible
criminals. I doubt if the
other tourists who witnessed
this will ever return.
I know that being drunk
in public breaking the law,
as is driving and drinking.
Now I have to go to court
next month. Kathleen will
be back in Alaska, although
she has a court date the
same day. She told me she
would never come here
again. Who can blame her?
When the undercover
officer came up to us, in
jeans and a T-shirt, at first I
thought he perhaps had met
her earlier and just wanted
a sip of beer. Then I thought
his badge was fake and
maybe we were going to be
thrown in a car and raped.
It was very scary. Then
two other undercover cops
joined him, and they called
the “paddy wagon” while we
sat there on the gritty hard
rock wall, handcuffed in full
humiliation.
If this is the way old
ladies who live in Hawaii
are treated and this is the
way a lady over 50 visiting
is treated, what is this state
coming to? I asked the
officer why he didn’t just tell
us it was against the law and
we would have just given
him the beer, and he said
it “was not the policy of his
division” and that he was
“just doing his job.”
Later, after I was home, I
was told by a friend that at
some beaches, like the City
of Refuge, you can drink
a beer and at others you
cannot. Surely there should
be signs posted. Kathleen
took one sip; I took one sip
and handed it back to her
and this is what happened
to us.
Elena Donaghy
Kona |
