nobbynobbynoob: RT @foxnews: WORLD: Jamaica Deploys 700 Police Officers to Fight Crime link -> We're worse than South Africa or Iraq! :(
about 7 minutes ago
Jamiethebadger: @richardpbacon Richard as a police officer will I be subject to the 1% payrise or are frontline workers protected?
about 10 minutes ago
WestCoastCynic: Wondering if anyone feels the tributes to the Lakewood police killed recently is out of proportion, or belittles killed military?
about 10 minutes ago
amandaserra: i got an e-mail that the library is going to be open til 2am. i would never study til 2am. or walk across the campus to the library.
about 12 minutes ago
KeshiaShante: Lol little kid RT @Britt_Brat14 So bored lol. Someone come play with me in the Library!! Or come take me home :(
about 13 minutes ago
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Should the Milwaukee libraries involve the law? |
| By OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers |
| Published Sept. 7, 2008 at 5:16 a.m. |
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At the end of August, a Grafton woman was handcuffed and arrested by police for not paying her library fines of $177. Prior to her arrest, she received two statements and two phone calls from the library, but she did not return "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown or "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch. The books were a year overdue.
Following this arrest, the Sheboygan library system asked police to get involved, and charge anyone with a fine over $77 with an additional fine or jail time.
What are your thoughts on this? Should people who don't return their library books have the book thrown at them, or is this making a crime out of something that's not?
Yes, the police should get involved. If you borrow materials, and don't return them, it's stealing. Period. Plus, library systems struggle like all non-profits and government departments, and if people do not return their materials and pay their fines, there is a chance the libraries could cease to exist someday. Involving police ensures that the libraries will remain open for years to come.
No, the police should not get involved. The library system is based on lending and trust, two concepts that rarely exist in establishments open to the public. Involving the police tarnishes the positive, community-oriented message of public libraries, not to mention, it's a complete waste of police officers' time. They should spend their time preventing and addressing real crimes.
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15 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by sandstorm on Sept. 10, 2008 at 1:55 p.m. (report)
"The library has the books back." you are either mistaken or lying, diesel. the woman has been quoted as saying I still have the books and I dont plan to return them because theyre paid for now, i do get the "punishment should fit the crime" theory. i really do. but the idiotic "cops have better things to do" line of BS is just stupid as it implies the cops are negelecting larger crimes to focus on this. she ignored a court summons and her idiotic response to the attempt to get the books back almost sounds boastful-I said, what could they possibly do? They cant arrest me for this" yup. now suck it up, and maybe Oprah wil purchase those wretched book titles from you.
| Rate this: |
Posted by rnzh102 on Sept. 10, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (report)
Ok, finally some people on here seem to get it. No one here is advocating the "stealing" of library books. Not returning them is wrong, yes, absolutely, 100%, we are all in agreement. The problem stems from the "punishment should fit the crime" apsect. Send someone who works for the library to the people's houses to get the books back, garnish their wages, keep their tax returns, send them to a collections agency.....there are countless good ideas on how to deal with this problem. We cannot have the people in charge of keeping the peace collecting overdue library fines. Can you imagine the headline, "Local Police Unable to Diffuse Hostage Situation due to Search for Missing Copy of Angels and Demons"
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Posted by diesel1976 on Sept. 10, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (report)
This isnt theft people!! The library has the books back. This is about not paying the overdue library fines. The police have better things to do than to bust people for library fines. The library should send them to collections agency. This is a waste of police man power.
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Posted by Bookish on Sept. 9, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (report)
Lawyerly mumbo jumbo aside, the effect is the same. That of taking something without paying for it and add to that the effect of depriving the rest of the library-going community the use of the book. I'm not saying people should be hauled off to break rocks in the hot sun, but come on, is it really that outrageous to hold people to the terms of use for the library, something that exists for the greater good?
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Posted by GraveDigger on Sept. 9, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. (report)
I don't mean to be picky here but technically this is not stealing, theft, larceny, etc.At most this could be considered fradulant conversion which is a tort and usually results in punitive damages. I am referring strictly to the act of failure to return or compensate for the borrowed materials and not the other charges of ignoring a summons.
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