[nagdu] pooper scoopper

Mon Jan 19 23:25:33 UTC 2009

Julie,
I think you're right about the police man being an "A Hole".  I DID ask him 
several times to please show me to a trash can and I'd be happy to throw the 
poop in it.  I also told him that I needed this help because I am blind.

As far as cops and the disabled - that's what I'm afraid of - that a 
disabled person would die because a cop thought he was drunk and not even 
think about a dangerous seizure.  The cops need educating by all of us.

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "JULIE PHILLIPSON" <jbrew48 at verizon.net>
To: "NAGDU" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 8:57 AM
Subject: [nagdu] pooper scoopper

> Linda at least you did pick it up and put it some where that someone would
> not step in it.  That is certainly more responsible then just leaving it
> there.  Police seem to have a problem with sensitivity to the disabled not
> just blind people.  This guy sounds like he was really just getting his 
> ego
> stroked by being a A. hole!  I think they love to have someone who they
> think they can get away with intimidating.  I would not be surprised that 
> he
> doesn't know the laws regarding the disabled.  We have recently heard 
> about
> that cops have so many laws to know that they can't possibly know them 
> all.
> A legislator said at our state convention that laws are there for a reason
> and the police don't have the right to pick and choose the ones they want 
> to
> enforce.  It of course comes down to us to reach out and educate them on
> civil rights issues.  That's not to say it doesn't go in one ear and out 
> the
> other!
>
> Julie Phillipson
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <
> lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com>
>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <
> nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>
>> Hi All,
>> I talked to someone in the City Disability coordinator's office and they
>> said that they didn't deal with this kind of issue and to talk to a
>> seargent
>> at the police department.  I told them that I had already done this and
>> I'll
>> find something else to do.  The person in my City councilmember's office
>> didn't have much else to offer either.  these people all mean well but
>> they
>> know so little about blindness or disability issues.  It is totally
>> outside
>> their radar screen - totally no clue whatsoever.
>>
>> I think I'm going to contact Turko Files after all.  He does have a track
>> record of helping people with disabilities, including blindness issues.
>>
>> Cari, if you were here and left the bag of dog crap in the bag outside 
>> the
>> store, the police would would probably try to bust you for that! (grin!).
>> I
>> think we are exempt here in San Diego County because of this very problem
>> of
>> not always finding a trash can.  All the guide dog users here do pick up
>> and
>> throw it in a trash can as a matter of course even though we are
>> technically
>> exempt.  It's the times when we can't find that trash can is when we
>> really
>> need that exemption.
>>
>> The biggest problem we have around our blind center is other people
>> letting
>> their pet dogs poop in our dog relief area and they leave it there -
>> unbagged - and an ususpecting blind person comes along to relieve their
>> guide dog and they step in crap and track it into the center.  Hmmmm,
>> where's the cops for that??  These pet owners are violating the leash 
>> laws
>> as well as the pooper scooper law.  They come up from the canyon with
>> their
>> loose dog, the dog smells the relief area and then does what dogs do
>> naturally - leave their calling card for our dogs to read.
>>
>> I do want to publicize this because the cop didn't know the law as far as
>> our exemption goes.  He failed to identify himself to me, and he refused
>> to
>> assist me to comply with the law because of my disability.  And he was a
>> jerk to expect me to become sighted to find the trash can on my own.
>> Well,
>> if I had that option, I certainly would have taken it.  I want people to
>> know how insensitive the cops are and how clueless about blindness they
>> are.
>> That isn't right and it should be corrected.
>>
>> I'll keep you all imformed as to what happens.
>>
>> Linda and Landon
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <
> countrygrl290 at aol.com>
>
>> To: <
> nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:03 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>>
>>
>>>I live in? reiverside county ... i did not know in san diego blind people
>>>were expempt. I always pick up my poop and if i cant find a trash can i
>>>take it with me? BUT on the same note if im going into? some place i 
>>>leave
>>>it in the baggie and go back for it on the way out ... if we r exempt i
>>>would fight the? sitation with an attorney? let me know i have the name 
>>>of
>>>one? who is in LA and supposed to be good ?
>>> cari and denver
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From:
> lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com
>>>
> Sent: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 1:44 pm
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>> I recently got cited by the police for violating San Diego's "pooper
>>> scooper
>>> law".  Both our county and city laws exempt blind people.  Curious to
>>> know
>>> if
>>> anyone else has had this problem?
>>>
>>> I was at a political rally at our County Administration Building last
>>> Saturday.
>>> Landon took a dump on the grass near the street, I picked it up with a
>>> baggie,
>>> and put the package under a nearby bush out of the way.  I wasn't able 
>>> to
>>> find a
>>> trash can to throw it away in.
>>>
>>> I was talking to a lady who is in my Democratic Party club when a man
>>> came
>>> up to
>>> me to tell me I had to throw the poop in a trash can.  I told him that I
>>> was
>>> blind and can't find a trash can and asked him to show me to one and I'd
>>> be
>>> happy to do that.  He said that I had to do it myself and that he wasn't
>>> going
>>> to help me find a can.  He then asked me for my ID.  Then I asked him 
>>> who
>>> he
>>> was.  He answered " San Diego Police".  I again told him that I was 
>>> blind
>>> and
>>> needed his help to find a trash can to throw the poop into.  Again, he
>>> said that
>>> I had to do this myself.  The lady's kid offered to throw it away for me
>>> but the
>>> police had my ID and they wrote me a citation for "Dog Nuisence" and 
>>> that
>>> I was
>>> to appear in Traffic Court (in an inaccessible location) in March.
>>>
>>> The lady I was with said that I could have avoided the ticket if I was
>>> real
>>> polite and begging for help from him.  I did tell the police officer 
>>> that
>>> I was
>>> exempt from the County's law and most likely, the San Diego city law.
>>> So,
>>> this
>>> lady wasn't at all sympathetic to me on this.  She even has a disabled
>>> son!  I
>>> was not angry or disrespectful to the cop.  I just stated facts and
>>> didn't
>>> grovel.
>>>
>>> I went home after the event and called the police department to place a
>>> complaint against an officer because he was totally insensitive to the
>>> fact that
>>> I couldn't find the trash can due to my blindness and for his failure to
>>> identify himself - I thought I was talking to just another person at the
>>> rally
>>> who objected to my putting the dog crap under the bush.
>>>
>>> I got a call b
>>> ack from the seargent and it turned out that the same seargent was
>>> there!  He didn't identify himself to me either!  The seargent said that
>>> he
>>> observed me letting Landon defecate, saw me competently pick it up, and
>>> throw it
>>> under the bush.  He wondered why, if I was really blind, how could I 
>>> know
>>> where
>>> the pile was to pick up.  I told him that we are all trained in the arts
>>> of
>>> picking up dog crap - it was part of the curriculum of the guide dog
>>> schools.
>>> He was surprized that the blind could learn how to find the pile their
>>> dog
>>> leaves.  So that told me that not only did he not know the law, he 
>>> didn't
>>> know
>>> anything about blind people either.
>>>
>>> I called the office of our City Disability Coordinator and have not 
>>> heard
>>> back
>>> from them yet.  I called my City Council member's office and talked to
>>> somebody
>>> there.  They thought that I would still have to go to the inaccessible
>>> Traffic
>>> Court, or maybe, they could come to a downtown location that I could get
>>> to.  He
>>> was going to check on that and get back to me. He also said he knew of
>>> someone
>>> at the Police Department who dealt with disability issues.
>>>
>>> Some of my friends thought I should go public with this by contacting a
>>> lawyer
>>> on KSUI-TV named Mike Turko.  He has a segment called"Turko Files" and 
>>> he
>>> gets
>>> contacted by lots of people with all kinds of problems and he helps the
>>> problems
>>> to be solved and goes public with them.  My CCB (ACB) chapter members
>>> went
>>> to
>>> him about SD TRansit refusing to put bus changes and meetings in a 
>>> format
>>> readable by the blind.  The website was also inaccessible as well. 
>>> After
>>> Turko
>>> did two seperate segments on KUSI-TV on this, Transit made the needed
>>> changes.
>>> I told my friends that I'd save Turko for later if needed!
>>>
>>> Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do about it? Thanks.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Linda and Landon
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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> Julie Phillipson
>
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