4 ms·

Maybe it's just me but this seems like... fluff, a little bit. There are a lot of instances of police abusing their power, but this is really on the low-end of

Maybe it's just me but this seems like... fluff, a little bit. There are a lot of instances of police abusing their power, but this is really on the low-end of that (i.e. I don't really consider this news). This just sounds like one of those situations where everyone involved is being kinda shitty.

MSM 13y ago
I feel the same way. I looked at the review that was posted and I didn't see anything that was really that bad about the pizza place. He kind of blew up a few things, so I can see why the owner would be upset. Of course the owner probably took it too far as well. As for the review: He had a big problem with putting the trash cans in the walk-in, but I don't really understand why. I leave my trashcan open and in the kitchen all day everyday. Am I putting myself in danger without realizing? He found some synthetic pot (but isn't that legal?) along with some insulin needles and came to the conclusion that it was narcotics. I had a chuckle when I imagined some guy shooting up heroin on the job but then getting synthetic pot in lieu of the real deal. I just can't imagine. Did he ever consider that the guy was diabetic?
- 51Cards 13y ago
  He had a big problem with putting the trash cans in the walk-in, but I don't really understand why. I leave my trashcan open and in the kitchen all day everyday. Am I putting myself in danger without realizing? A walk in is by design a closed air-flow environment. Not sure I'd really like a trashcan sitting in a closed environment with food. I usually avoid putting my garbage in the fridge.
  - alexhawdon 13y ago
    Yes. Hygiene regulations that have to be adhered to in commercial settings prohibit a LOT of stuff you really wouldn't think twice about doing at home. It's all for good reason. Whilst you might be preparing a meal for a healthy 20-something person with a great immune system, restaurants have to cater to EVERYBODY.
  - MSM 13y ago
    That's a fair view. My view is that I'm sure the garbage gets emptied, and you're left a dirty bin in the fridge. Maybe it's not the cleaniest thing to do. To me having this guy complain about the (in my opinion) small things he is complaining about makes it obvious there aren't more urgent health concerns with the place. I would definitely eat there.
emingo 13y ago
IMHO The interesting part of this story is NOT the 'level of wrongness' in police abuse. It's the policing of internet reviews! On the surface this is a trivial story, but in reality, this is totally bananas! A local cop policing the internet through means of coercion? Sounds sufficiently interesting to me!
- KenL 13y ago
  Given the known facts, I agree. It's not a whack with a baton, but government authorities shouldn't call someone to wrongly warn him that his actions might be harassment. Even if it's libel, that's what lawyers and the civil court system is for.
- notahacker 13y ago
  Did you listen to the phone call? It's possible that she was subtly threatening an innocent autistic man for the thrill of power that comes from shutting them up. It's more likely that after receiving a complaint from some angry citizen about "this crazy autistic guy online that keeps posting stuff on the internet about me even though it gets deleted" she decided to try to satisfy both parties by defusing the whole thing. Especially if she sympathized with the autistic guy after reading the post and suspected (i) he probably wasn't doing much harm and definitely wasn't intending to but (ii) probably wouldn't stand a chance in a courtroom if the angry citizen that kept badgering her followed through with his legal threats. It actually scans better if you assume the policewoman was exceeding her authority and legal knowledge in an attempt to prevent the needless harm of a disabled citizen being sued into oblivion by some over-litiguous asshole. And I'm generally in favour of police exercising that sort of discretion.
Zigurd 13y ago
I get bad reviews of dubious quality on Amazon, but Amazon's "useful" scores are usually reliable at marking those reviews as poor indicators. Yelp appears to have categorically filtered out reviews referring to the proprietor's behavior in this case. Unless those reviews are actually inaccurate, I don't see a reason why they should be filtered.
kazagistar 13y ago
Isn't abuse of power the most terrifying when it is used not for the extraordinary, but for the mundane? The very idea that police abuse of power is "mundane" in some way is disturbing.

MSM 13y ago

I feel the same way. I looked at the review that was posted and I didn't see anything that was really that bad about the pizza place. He kind of blew up a few things, so I can see why the owner would be upset. Of course the owner probably took it too far as well. As for the review: He had a big problem with putting the trash cans in the walk-in, but I don't really understand why. I leave my trashcan open and in the kitchen all day everyday. Am I putting myself in danger without realizing? He found some synthetic pot (but isn't that legal?) along with some insulin needles and came to the conclusion that it was narcotics. I had a chuckle when I imagined some guy shooting up heroin on the job but then getting synthetic pot in lieu of the real deal. I just can't imagine. Did he ever consider that the guy was diabetic?

51Cards 13y ago
He had a big problem with putting the trash cans in the walk-in, but I don't really understand why. I leave my trashcan open and in the kitchen all day everyday. Am I putting myself in danger without realizing? A walk in is by design a closed air-flow environment. Not sure I'd really like a trashcan sitting in a closed environment with food. I usually avoid putting my garbage in the fridge.
- alexhawdon 13y ago
  Yes. Hygiene regulations that have to be adhered to in commercial settings prohibit a LOT of stuff you really wouldn't think twice about doing at home. It's all for good reason. Whilst you might be preparing a meal for a healthy 20-something person with a great immune system, restaurants have to cater to EVERYBODY.
- MSM 13y ago
  That's a fair view. My view is that I'm sure the garbage gets emptied, and you're left a dirty bin in the fridge. Maybe it's not the cleaniest thing to do. To me having this guy complain about the (in my opinion) small things he is complaining about makes it obvious there aren't more urgent health concerns with the place. I would definitely eat there.

emingo 13y ago

IMHO The interesting part of this story is NOT the 'level of wrongness' in police abuse. It's the policing of internet reviews! On the surface this is a trivial story, but in reality, this is totally bananas! A local cop policing the internet through means of coercion? Sounds sufficiently interesting to me!

KenL 13y ago
Given the known facts, I agree. It's not a whack with a baton, but government authorities shouldn't call someone to wrongly warn him that his actions might be harassment. Even if it's libel, that's what lawyers and the civil court system is for.
notahacker 13y ago
Did you listen to the phone call? It's possible that she was subtly threatening an innocent autistic man for the thrill of power that comes from shutting them up. It's more likely that after receiving a complaint from some angry citizen about "this crazy autistic guy online that keeps posting stuff on the internet about me even though it gets deleted" she decided to try to satisfy both parties by defusing the whole thing. Especially if she sympathized with the autistic guy after reading the post and suspected (i) he probably wasn't doing much harm and definitely wasn't intending to but (ii) probably wouldn't stand a chance in a courtroom if the angry citizen that kept badgering her followed through with his legal threats. It actually scans better if you assume the policewoman was exceeding her authority and legal knowledge in an attempt to prevent the needless harm of a disabled citizen being sued into oblivion by some over-litiguous asshole. And I'm generally in favour of police exercising that sort of discretion.

Zigurd 13y ago

I get bad reviews of dubious quality on Amazon, but Amazon's "useful" scores are usually reliable at marking those reviews as poor indicators. Yelp appears to have categorically filtered out reviews referring to the proprietor's behavior in this case. Unless those reviews are actually inaccurate, I don't see a reason why they should be filtered.

kazagistar 13y ago

Isn't abuse of power the most terrifying when it is used not for the extraordinary, but for the mundane? The very idea that police abuse of power is "mundane" in some way is disturbing.