Massachusetts Justice: The McGruff of Massachusetts

Give a guy a title and some power and watch it go to his head! This guy would have ended up bloodied and on the ground out here!

Not by me, but somebody would have eventually put this prick in his place.

"Who watches the Crime Watch?; Wareham volunteer arrested in dispute over parking rules" by Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff | July 30, 2009

George H. Coleman is a familiar sight in Onset, a little seaside village in Wareham, where he patrols the streets in a Ford Crown Victoria, keeping an eye out for trouble. Trouble could mean a broken street light (he reports it to the town), suspicious activity (he calls police), or an illegally parked car (he places a parking ticket on its windshield.)

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The 70-year-old former police officer - who has been somewhat of a local pioneer in promoting public safety - is now facing assault charges. Coleman’s arrest made headlines in Wareham, and highlighted a controversial issue in town - the fact that Crime Watch volunteers are authorized to give out parking tickets....

Critics say overzealous volunteers are writing too many parking tickets, and some question the legality of the fines issued by civilians....

“The general opinion is he’s not very friendly and he’s quite aggressive in his ticket writing,’’ said George Dionne, Wareham Police Union president....

As Wareham has struggled with tight budgets, the crime watch group and its cadre of 60 volunteers and three vehicles have taken on more responsibilities, which now include issuing parking tickets. The group has a storefront office that it shares with the police....

The recent surge in parking citations has caught many people by surprise, according to Mary Lou Payton, president of the Onset Bay Association. Motorists often don’t follow the posted time limits, she said. “The parking regulations haven’t really been enforced in 20 years,’’ Payton said....

Trying to BALANCE some BUDGETS and get a REVENUE STREAM going?

But Coleman, the leader of Onset’s Crime Watch program, found himself on the other side of the law recently, when he was arrested after getting into a dispute with a woman on the street. According to witnesses, Coleman hurled insults at the woman, threatened to write her a parking ticket, and then drove his Crime Watch cruiser toward her. He didn’t stop until the vehicle bumped into her legs, witnesses said, and her hands slapped down on the hood.

Somebody want to check this fascist fart for road rage?

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