How many cops does it take to shut down a father and son sand castle build? 4. But only when they are clueless about what they are looking to ticket someone for

Panama City Beach, spring break.... and this guy does the annual beach trip with his son...

But the meter maid blew a gasket when she saw the sand castle... and the associated moat. Well. That's just not allowed according to her.

So she whips out the attitude of "I'm a cop and you're ready to go to jail" and tells the guy and his son to fill in the area they had pulled sand from to built the castle (which is a good one from what I can see in the photo)

Instead of reacting like a scared dog, he said... what is the law you're referencing that says this activity is illegal?

So... she had to call for back up. 3 more police cruiser show up for intimidation sake.

Well, they aren't known for their smarts, just the bully badge mentality, and instead of simply getting the law oridnance number for the dad and son castlebuilders... he tried to bargain with the dad to get him to level the sand. Sheesh

"The ordinance states, no hole deeper than 2 ft and the hole we dug was less than 1ft. Ours was within the limits. The ordinance states not to leave without covering, it was midday and we had not left yet."

Creating a post on facebook resulted in 1.7K Shares/ 873 likes/ 844 comments/

All over a post about a $25 fine for a sand castle, but showed that cops are bullies and that the law is nuts. Up to 60 days in jail for a 2 foot deep hole on the beach? That's nuts.

But the ridiculousness of the law enforcement response got the attention of the local news http://www.wjhg.com/content/news/An-Alabama-man-has-been-fined-by-PCB-Police-for-using-a-gardening-tool-to-build-a-sand-castle-417519573.html
http://www.theadvocate.com/nation_world/article_a7812a86-1613-11e7-93c3-2b7e429099b2.html

https://www.facebook.com/bryant.rylee

By the way, there is nothing on the "Come and blow your tourist money at Panama City Beach" website about anything to do with digging on the beach, or using metal shovels http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/things-to-do/beaches/leave-only-footprints/

But they do have a "No alcohol on the beach during spring break month" law http://www.pcbgov.com/home/showdocument?id=2625

Here is the "No shovels, no digging deep holes" law http://www.pcbgov.com/home/showdocument?id=2139  section 7-10 "No Holes on Beach"

Then politicians and boats better stay off  the beach... one is a spokeshole, the other is a hole in the ocean you throw money into.

Meanwhile, in places without asshole cops, and interfering lawmakers... people are out having a good time! http://idiod.name

The law banning metal shovels was among those passed in the wake of Spring Break 2015. It states that metal shovels sold in hardware stores (not children's toys) are not permitted on the beach, and any holes dug in the sand should not be deeper than 2 feet.

Beach Mayor Mike Thomas, who was a county commissioner when lawmakers adopted the rules, said they were intended to promote safety and prevent crime. He also, however, decried issuing a citation in this instance.

"When we were asking for these laws, (police) were having problems with people getting in holes to hide drug activity and sexual activity," Thomas said. "People should always be allowed to dig a sandcastle. We want people to come down and do that."

Rylee said he was given an opportunity to avoid a citation by filling in the moat around the sandcastle but insisted on seeing the law. But by the time officers produced the ordinance, he had cemented his ticket.

Beach Mayor Mike Thomas said he met with City Manager Mario Gisbert and Whitman after receiving word of the citation. He said his interpretation was that the shovels and holes were prohibited from the "sandy beach," and this occurred in the surf line, where it is impossible to dig a 2-foot-deep hole.

http://www.newsherald.com/news/20170329/youth-minister-fined-for-digging-sandcastle-with-family

So... fine, after getting publicly embarrassed by their mall cop bully badge blowhards, did anyone from city hall tell the cops to knock off the bullshit and consider the repercussions of acting like assholes and it's effect on tourism? Nope. It's not even mentioned in any news I've found on this event. 

Orange County Superior Court clerk took bribes for 5 years to fix thousands of cases, including DUIs, traffic cases, and criminal cases... was paid about a total of 1/4 million dollars

Former Orange County Superior Court clerk plead guilty Wednesday to reaping more than a quarter-million dollars as head of a bribery scheme that forged the results of criminal and traffic violations in exchange for money.

Anaheim resident Juan Lopez admitted in a plea deal last week that from 2010 until 2015, he used his court computer system access to write fraudulent outcomes for more than 1,000 cases, including 69 misdemeanor driving under the influence cases and hundreds of traffic-related violations.

Lopez was paid by nine middlemen to fix court records to show a favorable result for the persons charged, when in fact, the cases were never ruled upon, prosecutors said.

DUI cases drew the highest prices, as Lopez asked as much as $8,000 to fix those results, according to the indictment.

Records also show he used the ill-gotten gains in 2015 to open a Mexican restaurant in Garden Grove.

The scheme ended in 2015 when O.C. Superior Court officials began to suspect Lopez of case tampering.

He gets sentenced Sept 22nd

Lopez is one of 13 co-defendants under indictment for violating the RICO Act

 Federal agents also arrested 10 of Lopez’s 11 alleged “recruiters,” people who worked outside of the courthouse who went to car and truck clubs, and to Craigslist, to spread the word that, for a fee, tickets processed in Orange County Superior Court could be tweaked in the driver’s favor.

Ten others have pleaded guilty so far. An eleventh is scheduled to plead guilty on April 21, and Javed Asefi, 44, of Ladera Ranch is scheduled to go on trial on May 2, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oc-bribes-plea-20170329-story.html

People who paid the bribes – many non-English speakers from countries where ticket fixing sometimes involves bureaucrats or police (read this to mean illegal aliens with drivers licenses, see the previous post) – were solicited directly by Lopez or by a recruiter.

The FBI probe was kicked off after a courtroom employee noticed a single document was missing; the file contained the clerk’s employee ID. Soon, other DUIs and other traffic cases tied to Lopez were inspected.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lopez-728181-cases-prosecutors.html
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/court-667679-defendants-borris.html