Arlington police officer allows teen do push-ups instead of jail time for smoking weed

[vellavu]

Arlington police officer allows teen do push-ups instead of jail time

An Arlington police officer is receiving lots of praise from social media after his encounter with a teen boy. According to the video circulating on social media, the officer allowed the teen to do push-ups versus taking him to jail.

Arlington police identified the officer in the video as Officer Eric Ball. He was working off-duty one night at an Arlington movie theater when someone told him a teenager was smoking weed outside.

When he went out, he saw the teenager finishing a cigarette and discarding it, smelling marijuana as he approached.

"Marijuana gives [off] a distinct odor. He knew what the teen was up to," said Lt. Chris Cook with Arlington police.

Lt. Cook said the teen was respectful and realized he'd made a mistake. While Officer Ball could have arrested him, he decided to do something different.

"He said, 'You give me 200 push-ups, I won't put you in jail," said Lt. Cook.

 

[brinkster130]

Being able to do 200 push-ups is impressive.

 

[GoSpuffy]

parenting books always say to make the punishment fit the crime. 200 push ups doesnt have a lot to do with smoking pot. I could see going for a run because you can tie it in with smoking being bad for your lungs. The better punishment would have been to pick up all the litter in the area because he was caught littering by throwing it away. Also not all kids can do 200 push ups and it seems like punishments should be able to be done by the whole population and not letting one guy get off easy because he's pretty fit. Not many girls can do pushups and I'd rather see punishments that are the same for everyone.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

What a load of crap!
To do a push-up the only parts of the body on the ground are the hands and the feet not, as in the video, the knees. That is a really dumb cop.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Now if I was the cop I'd get the kid to smoke 1/4 oz them tell him to do the push-ups. Then I'd tip toe to behind him and see how long it takes before the kid stops and asks himself why he is doing push-ups in the car park.

 

[Fenrir]

parenting books always say to make the punishment fit the crime. 200 push ups doesnt have a lot to do with smoking pot. I could see going for a run because you can tie it in with smoking being bad for your lungs. The better punishment would have been to pick up all the litter in the area because he was caught littering by throwing it away. Also not all kids can do 200 push ups and it seems like punishments should be able to be done by the whole population and not letting one guy get off easy because he's pretty fit. Not many girls can do pushups and I'd rather see punishments that are the same for everyone.

The guy didn't do 200 straight press ups so the cop was pretty lenient with it. If someone was less fit I don't think he would have charged them. Doing exercise rather than getting a record (or whatever) is a pretty sweet deal.

Litter picking is a good idea though.

What a load of crap!
To do a push-up the only parts of the body on the ground are the hands and the feet not, as in the video, the knees. That is a really dumb cop.

To be fair 200 most people wouldn't be able to do 200 press ups so I figure the cop let it slide rather than waiting an hour for him to be able to do it between rests. The teen was struggling so the cop let form slide.

 

[thrasherpix]

It was nice of him, though I expect some LEOs would consider his failure to arrest as a failure to do his job (I'd rather the cops turn the kids over to the parents anyway, unless the parents are obviously unfit or the kid is a menace to the community, though I know some who'd rather go to jail than have the police call his or her mother 😀 ). Certainly better than when cops raid a school with guns drawn, kids on their knees, and vicious dogs barely restrained doing a search of an entire school just because of an anonymous tip (which has happened, btw). The cop wasn't so much punishing him out of Puritan like ideals, but to metaphorically slap him upside the head. Kids are reckless (and it shows in brain scans) and that was a wake up call rather than punishment. Whether or not he'll heed it (and if heeding it whether he gets more discrete or gives it up) is up to the kid. It will be better for him and society if he does since a criminal record is going to be a burden on him (and thus the rest of the society).