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If chalk is outlawed ...
By adamg on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 3:08pm
Apparently, Cambridge police don't like it if they catch you drawing in chalk on the sidewalk:
... Afterwards, I moved on to the alley near Central Kitchen, where I and several friends have often decorated before, and began drawing. Soon, other passersby noticed, and happily grabbed some chalk to play with and help. I met a grad student from UMass, a family of four (whose kids got super excited at the chance to draw), and a group of about 10 people who happened to be walking by, architecture students from Tuscaloosa, visiting Boston, and who talked endlessly about how lucky they were to pass us by as we were drawing, and joined in on the happiness, helping to decorate the sidewalk with tremendous zeal. This gave my heartstrings a huge, positive tug.
Then, the MAN showed up. Two A-hole Cambridge cops showed up, took my driver's license, and held me in their custody as they checked my criminal background ...
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Comments
Who's more ridiculous?
The cops who raised a stink about this, or the people creating sidewalk chalk art that will be washed away this week by the rain?
Answer
The cops who hassled people for using sidewalk chalk that will be washed away by the rain.
Isn't there some real crime around?
Then again, these guys were from the same police force which once thought it appropriate to arrest cyclists for not showing them a driver's license as ID.
at least we don't live in fascist brooklyn
Some 6-year old girl in NYC got fined $300 for chalk drawing on her front stoop!
Plus, couldn't you have just said you were getting in some practice for next month's City of Cambridge approved "Chalk on the Walk" festival?
http://www.cambridgerotary.org/ChalkOverview.cfm
Sidewalk Sam
Sidewalk Sam has been painting sidewalks with colorfast paint for over three decades so what's up with chalk?
I would agree that the cops
I would agree that the cops were silly, but anyone who uses "the Man" in a sentence is suspect.
Grow up, ignorant child
Aw, drawing on the side walk, isn't that cute, what are you, an eight year old girl? Were you given a ticket during hopscotch as well? I hope you get fined and decide to move out of the city, you putz. Shame on you and all you hippie type liberal arts chai drinking bleeding hearts who side with this person, it is still defacement of property. You think I want chalk dust on my boots? Nope. If I saw you, I'd call the cops myself.
Go to the clayroom or plaster fun time if you want to indulge your pre-pubescent urges.
TAL (Troll Alert System) Change in Status
Status now: Elevated
Black Kettle's Opinion
I think somebody is projecting here, especially given the tone/content of previous posts. Maybe someday he will figure out that "grown up" is not the same as "calling others childish".
chalk it up to insecurity
those g*damn chai drinkers are so problematic
back in the dark ages when I was a kid (b.1960) nobody cared if we used chalk on a sidewalk
"Status now:
"Status now: Elevated"
Troll, def. - anyone I disagree with.
Troll, def revisisted
A troll is generally defined as someone who makes inflammatory statements to get a rise out of people. There was absolutely no reason for OMO to word his post in such an uncivil and inflammatory manner. He could have written pleasantly just like the other commenters.
Additionally, I'm pretty sure that it's not defacement of property if it's temporary (with respect to public property; private property is fairly different beast). I remember seeing a story about someone asking the police regarding the matter and that it wasn't considered defacement if it was on public property and it was temporary. If it were permanent or if it were done on private property, the situation changed significantly.
Chalk is great for any age...
...but I'm going to put a draw here for both the chalkers and the cops.
The Cambridge cops overreacted here. If anything, chalk drawing is a unique icebreaker, one that causes everyone to take pause of their dreary day and indulge in stuff we used to do as kids. Doodling helps out delivering us from hefty stress of the day.
On the other hand, with graffiti artists and malevolent gangs marking up territory with magic markers, the Cambridge cops couldn't take any chances. True, it was chalk and can easily be washed away, but that's the judgement call they have to make - it is a pretty picture of a bunny, or is it graffiti that will take Cambridge Works months to get rid of - and are you one of those artists on their databases making a "rough draft" of their sketch to come back later and fill in the details with spray paint and markers? Or maybe it's communication for gangs to say, "don't cross into our territory."
At least the Transit Police cop was cool about it.
If I could post a pic here ...
I'd show some of the sidewalk chalk artist work that I photographed in Toronto.
Let's just say that it wasn't all that work friendly, but at least the sexual humor was lost on the boys - well, at least the one furthest from adolescence.
One thing was NOT questionable however: this stuff was clearly art!
Someone else's photo of the same guy at work on Queen St., Toronto
If you really want to blow your mind and forever disassociate chalk and children, try some of Julian Beever's 3-D work
True Art
Beever's 3-D sidewalk chalk art is truly amazing.
chalk drawing
Of course I'm not saying you should be thrown in jail, but I do think it's reasonable for cops to check i.d. when an adult is down on the ground playing with children's chalk in Central Square. Maybe the cops thought you were drunk or mentally unstable? Perhaps one of the local businesses contacted the police about your odd behavior? Who knows!
An adult can't draw without
An adult can't draw without being drunk or deranged? What Orwellian future do you live in?
read again
I was suggesting that perhaps that was the cop's perspective. Perhaps you don't walk through Central Square all too often, but there are plenty of drunks hanging out on the streets. So it's not a stretch for me to suggest.
I hear you
I live in Central, and I see drunks and vagrants drawing with chalk all the time.
Central Square is
chalk full o' nuts
search and seizure
What's the purpose of asking a chalk-user for their id?
A cop can ask a driver for the license and registration because both are required by law to operate a vehicle but cops have no right to demand identification on city streets because a person is using chalk on the sidewalk.
If an officer asks my for name, I'll give it and always with respect. If he asks for my ID, I'll ask if I'm being detained or if I'm free to go. Police need probable cause to detain you.
Incorrect. Police need some
Incorrect. Police need some degree of reasonable suspicion to detain you, probable cause is step above. Asking someone for an ID and demanding it are two different things (in the eyes of the law). I do get annoyed with the artsy people who think its "cute" to draw on sidewalks on a busy street. Impeding a public sidewalk, by the way, is against the law. I would bet that someone probably called the police. They are Cambridge cops, after all. I'm sure they are used to "artists" creating "art".
And what of those who do not
And what of those who do not drive and thus do not carry ID?
What?
There's no law against being mentally unstable, or being under the influence of a legal substance. Someone can't be arrested just for having a mental health crisis; they need to be engaging in illegal behavior (such as threatening people, putting people in danger, etc.). Likewise, Massachusetts only has a protective custody statute, which means that police can hold someone for up to 12 hours if they're displaying behavior that indicates that they're under the influence of alcohol and appear likely to cause someone harm. It's not illegal to be drunk, and it's certainly not illegal to behave in an odd manner that isn't harming anyone.
Evil Big Chalk is moving north
First New York and now this.
I just actually read the
I just actually read the whole post. Calling two cops the most abhorent scum on the earth and making hilarious donut jokes make me wonder about this person's version of the events. I am also surprised that the cops should know from looking at him/her that he/she has no criminal record. I would imagine that an "artist" would also be sensitive towards profiling.
Over-stating
"Talk about buzz-kill amidst bringing happiness to so many people."
I think the author may be over-stating the value of sidewalk chalk art.
lets chalk it up
Why would someone be heading into the alley by central kitchen? That is odd. Was that a destination or a stumble upon? I'm not familiar with this alley, should I be?
Also, what else would cops in Cambridge do? Are the happy peoople every doing anythhing seriously wrong
Using the words The Man isn't suspect at all. It's the one questioning it that is
The alley
The alley --
http://www.universalhub.com/node/13651
-- connects Mass Ave with the municipal parking lot behind Pearl Arts and Crafts.
It sounds like the cop
It sounds like the cop overreacted and I'm not sure why. But I must admit I have never heard of someone just carrying chalk on them so they can spontaneously use it on random sidewalks. I don't have a problem with it, just find it very odd.
No Longer Safe for Very Odd People ...
Well, I guess Cambridge is no longer safe for very odd people.
And here I thought it was just Logan ...
Guess I need to find a new refuge.
*sigh*
It could have been worse
At least he didn't make a chalk drawing of a bomb on the sidewalk ... you know where that goes!
or worse yet..
A chalk drawing of Mohammed!
With a bomb!
They'd have to draw straws to see if he got arrested or lynched.
And...
A peanut butter sandwich!
Cut in the shape of ...
A MOONINITE!!!!!!!
Now that's art
If someone chalks a sidewalk picture of Mohammed holding a bomb in one hand and a peanut butter sandwich shaped like a mooninite on the other...
I hope it'll have some blinky lights on it, and I hope someone will post a picture here.
I *do* love a challenge
I *do* love a challenge ...
That said, I have no artistic ability whatever. And besides, my knees are too creaky to kneel on the sidewalk.
I *could* supply the blinking lights, though, if somebody else wanted to do the strenuous part.
*kaff*