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This is a particularly strange story; I've got mixed feelings about it. Pulling someone over without a legitimate, legal reason seems... well, illegal (though I'm not a lawyer) and could cause unnecessary stress and cause people to lose that increasingly precious commodity known as 'time.' Additionally, the fact that the town is spending tax dollars on this is a bit... problematic, as is the fact that the family was apparently "hauled to a local church." I hope that the family was immediately told what was going on...
This is a particularly strange story; I've got mixed feelings about it. Pulling someone over without a legitimate, legal reason seems... well, illegal (though I'm not a lawyer) and could cause unnecessary stress and cause people to lose that increasingly precious commodity known as 'time.' Additionally, the fact that the town is spending tax dollars on this is a bit... problematic, as is the fact that the family was apparently "hauled to a local church." I hope that the family was immediately told what was going on...
Read the quote below from the article
Deputy Terry Guillory, who pulled the family over, said he spent several hours Monday morning on Interstate 10, waiting to find the perfect family to stop.
"I asked them if they'd like to be the guests of our town," Guillory said
A lot of people always seem to want to vacation in the big name cities. Give me the small town areas. Less traffic, affordable hotels, great tasting food at an affordable price, friendly people, and much more relaxing. Come to this part of the country during the festivals. They all revolve around food, music, and heritage.
It's called "promoting tourism." When I read this story to my girlfriend just now, the first thing she said was, "I want to go there!"
I see it as a very efficient use of a portion of their promotion budget.
I'm not sure how this could be construed as promoting tourism - they only do it to one single family once a year and they apparently pay for that family's stay. There isn't enough attention from the media for it to promote tourism in any meaningful way, especially since it doesn't draw any attention to attractions within the town. And finally its a town of 13,000 people, it's not going to draw tourists from any great distance and those close enough to travel to it probably already know about it.
They might consider it a means of promoting tourism, but it's not a real effective one.
Deputy Terry Guillory, who pulled the family over, said he spent several hours Monday morning on Interstate 10, waiting to find the perfect family to stop.
"I asked them if they'd like to be the guests of our town," Guillory said
I fail to see how this addresses the problems I mentioned. He still pulled over a family without a legitimate legal reason, which seems like it is likely to be illegal (If I can remember, I'll ask a friend of mine whose in his last semester of law school about this when I see him tomorrow). Additionally, this seems like a waste of police resources... sitting and waiting for a family to haul in for a meal? Not sure it's right to use police for this at all. Furthermore, what constitutes the 'right' family? How do you determine who is right from cars passing?
Honestly, the more I think about this the more I find it problematic.
I fail to see how this addresses the problems I mentioned. He still pulled over a family without a legitimate legal reason, which seems like it is likely to be illegal (If I can remember, I'll ask a friend of mine whose in his last semester of law school about this when I see him tomorrow). Additionally, this seems like a waste of police resources... sitting and waiting for a family to haul in for a meal? Not sure it's right to use police for this at all. Furthermore, what constitutes the 'right' family? How do you determine who is right from cars passing?
Honestly, the more I think about this the more I find it problematic.
So by your reasoning, it should also be illegal when city police pull over good drivers to give them a reward ticket (usually a coupon from some local business) for their good driving. They're pulled over, offered the chance to see the town, enjoy a free meal, and receive gifts from the town. If they decline, they go on their way. If they accept, the police leads them back to the town. The family is from South Carolina. They'd been on the road a long time. The chance to kick back, relax, and eat a hot meal that isn't from a burger joint or a greasy chain restaurant would be a welcomed change of pace. The news story was carried by the Associated Press and is also on the FOX News website. Not bad for a little publicity. Gee, what a Scrooge. Once a year the city invites someone to their town, gives them a hot meal, gives them gifts donated from local merchants, and you're griping about such behavior?
So by your reasoning, it should also be illegal when city police pull over good drivers to give them a reward ticket (usually a coupon from some local business) for their good driving.
Yes, most definitely. Cops should be in the business of enforcing the law, not promoting tourism, not 'rewarding good driving' by essentially promoting local businesses. It is an invasion of privacy, quite frankly, to pull someone over who isn't doing anything illegal. You're going to 'freak that person out,' probably make them uncomfortable and, furthermore, you don't know if their in a hurry to get somewhere and you may be interfering with that.
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