How Idiotic

[Willy]

Not the boys but the police

Two Ludington boys, one 14-year-old and one 13-year-old, may face fines after jumping into the 43-degree waters of Pere Marquette Lake on Thursday.

Ludington police received a call about the boys jumping off of the seawall at Waterfront Park into the lake at 3:55 p.m. Officers located the boys near the south gazebo in the park and drove them home.

Were they adults, they would have been ticketed for swimming outside of the designated swim area, a violation of a city ordinance. The ticket carries at $235 fine. Because they are younger than 17, they are being petitioned to juvenile court for the ordinance violation.

The boys told the responding officers that they were jumping into the lake “for fun.”

Ludington Police Captain Mike Harrie said the area is not a designated swim area even in the summer and people would be fined regardless of the water temperature. He said the boys jumped into the 40-degree water repeatedly.

“They could still end up in a hypothermic state within a half hour,” Harrie said. “It was definitely a dangerous situation and I don’t think the kids understood the ramifications of what they were doing.”

He said the charity Lake Jump has qualified medical personnel on standby and takes place in a designated swimming area. Organizers also pushed the event back twice for ice and cold water temps this year.

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/artic...

[Willy]

Instead of just telling the boys to stop they took them into custody and drove them home and will be charging them with a misdemeanor. Talk about going overboard.

[XLFD]

Actually it will be just a municipal civil infraction, but your point is well-taken Willy. 

I hope the two boys and their parents fight this, because the police involved are over-reacting and over-reaching.  I just went down to the breakwall area by the south gazebo, and there are no designations of this not being an area forbidden to swim or dive into.  Nor is the converse true, that there are signs saying it is OK for swimming.  The applicable city ordinance says such areas for swimming must either be posted or otherwise made known by the director of recreation. 

The article gives no indications that they were not doing more than diving into the water, and climbing back up the breakwall's ladder.  Diving is only prohibited off the lighthouse's breakwalls.  They have substantially complied with the law-- ask our City leaders how this works for when they break the Open Meetings Act. 

I would say these boys made no violation of the law, however the City may violate their rights if they continue with prosecuting them for diving when it is obviously not against any law.  Warn them sternly that it is imprudent to do so, alert their parent(s)/caregiver(s) of the stupidity of jumping into the lake at this time of year, and call it a day.  If the City shakes them down for $235 and goes through the court system to do so, I will soon see these kids and their families join the cause.  There is nothing better than experiencing injustice from our local system firsthand to make you sensitive to injustice of our local system, and to join the cause to make things better. 

[Willy]

X. Thanks for adding the article content and the information about "civil infraction".

[XLFD]

No problem, I personally like having the article on the same window, so I can consult it while responding to it without having to change windows, so I will usually do that operation just to make it more user-friendly for all.  

[XLFD]

The reference to the Lake Jump also shows how vapid the area authorities are when it comes to justifying creating new laws to punish area residents having victimless fun.  I include a video of the 2012 Lake Jump but could include any other year's event which show that there is no 'designated swimming area' outlined for the jump (so those people standing out in the water acting as boundaries are actually violating the law, according to today's LPD, as is everyone else who plunges in).  Until the DPW puts out the buoys sometime around Memorial Day, there is technically no designated swimming area in Ludington.  It's about as senseless as ticketing a bicyclist for not completely stopping at a stop sign when there is no opposing traffic.

 

[Willy]

When we were kids we had access to motor boats all of the time. Our parents trusted us and knew where we were going. I'm talking 10 years old. We even learned how to do small repairs to the motor if something should happen. We carried a spare propeller and pins, pull ropes, ect and on several occasions had to do the  repairs to get back home. Parents don't let kids be kids much anymore. 

[Dave]

When I first saw this I thought maybe the kids were taking part in something that I've been seeing on Facebook a lot lately called the Cold Water Game... what it is you challenge friends on Facebook by tagging them and give them the option of either running into a lake (this time of year still quite chilly of course) or donating money to the charity of their choice. Most people take the dip in the lake but a few friends have made the charity donation. Of course there was one person that seems not to be the brightest, when doing the plunge he chose to dive into a shallow lake and of course nearly broke his neck.

[AQUAMAN]

Nice fable streeter, I really doubt you or anyone else had the guts to prove your supposed stunt. Got proof, then post it troll!

[XLFD]

Aquaman, tone down the aggressive stance and the name calling; this is a civil forum, post with civil decorum.

[easymoney]

Good God, when we were kids, we jumped from ice break to ice break down at the slab piles and had Tom Love threatening to take us to jail, in return, we dared him t6o come out and get us. Bottom line, we were taken home and got our a$$ whipped. End of story. Although, I never admitted to being very bright.

[XLFD]

I'd wager there was a bet or a dare involved between the two participants, but the LPD won it, for now.  When those boys graduate from Ludington High School, will they look back at this episode and think that their hometown is a great place to stay and raise their future family, or that their hometown is ruled over by a bunch of greedy fascists, ready to modify the laws to take away their fun and money.   

Ideally, they would stay and become the change, but that would involve more than a couple of discontented youths.

[XLFD]

Dave, a "Cold Water Challenge" as you describe has just made Michigan News.  In Sturgis, Michigan, Tommy Smith ran into some difficulties just a couple of days ago:  http://www.fox28.com/story/25332988/2014/04/24/cold-water-challenge...