Thursday, July 10, 2008
Sagging: not just a Louisiana crisis any more
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 6:32 PM
State Sen. Derrick Shepherd couldn't get it done on a statewide level. The town of Delcambre, La., did get it done on a city level. And now the town of Flint, Mich. is going after it in a big way. The crime? Sagging pants:
Flint residents now have to watch their butts because Police Chief David Dicks is on the lookout.Dicks, who took over the department last month on an interim basis, announced that his officers would start arresting people wearing saggy pants that expose skivvies, boxer shorts or bare bottoms.
"Some people call it a fad," Dicks told the Free Press this week while patrolling the streets of Flint. "But I believe it's a national nuisance. It is indecent and thus it is indecent exposure, which has been on the books for years."
On June 27, the chief issued a departmental memorandum telling officers: "This immoral self expression goes beyond freedom of expression."
The crime, he says, is disorderly conduct or indecent exposure, both misdemeanors punishable by 93 days to a year in jail and/or fines up to $500.
As the Columbia Journalism Review points out, Chief Dicks' edict inspired one of the greatest newspaper graphics in history, by the Detroit Free Press' Moses Harris:
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