'Potty Police' Nab Bladder-Heavy Revelers

[Champ]

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Cruising down the street in a Chevrolet missing a front hubcap, the two officers checked their gear again - their guns, handcuffs and radios were right where they should be. It was going to be a busy night.

A Jimi Hendrix tune played on the radio, but they didn't seem to hear as their eyes darted left and right scanning alleys, parking lots and the rows of cars packed along the narrow streets.

The officers spotted three men standing in the darkened corner of a bank parking lot. They had action. "Police. What's going on here?"

"You've got to be kidding me," said one of the men as he zipped up his pants.

It was another collar for Officers Matt Turko and Tom Weger, members of Pittsburgh's Pub Patrol, which could also be called the potty police.

Since November 2003, Turko and Weger have patrolled the city's South Side, one of the country's oldest Victorian-era shopping districts in the country by day - but one of the city's best places to drink at night. They bust bladder-heavy revelers looking for relief in alleys, the sides of houses and in dark corners.

"It's a target-rich environment," Weger told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in a story published Sunday.

Turko and Weger have handed out more than 220 citations for public indecency. Emptying your bladder in the wrong place can also empty your wallet. Each ticket comes with a $300 fine.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/POTTY_POLICE?SITE=IDBOI&SECTION=STRANGE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[specter]

1. IN some

places in the country these guys would be on the sex offender list the rest of their lives

[DBoon]

4. Yes and they'd have to face vigilantes

at their front doorsteps every time they move into a new neighborhood.

And they would never be able to get a job that requires a background check.

[specter]

5. yup

the sick but sad truth of what is going to happen to everyone eventually.. The registery is the first step. The germans had one to pink triangles and the star of david. Look what they did to those poor people. This country is really gettin bad

[da_chimperor]

2. It's a way to make money. Just like having speed cameras. Greedy bastards.

eom

[Elidor]

3. Reminds me of the time I got drunk in Manhattan

All night long I'd been going on about all the people doing it in the street. Then I found out why: unless you're a paying restaurant customer, there's not a bathroom to be found in all of Manhattan. Pretty soon, I had no choice but to whizz on a building in plain view of hundreds and hundreds of people. (My buddies formed a protective screen around me.)

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. The nice thing about peeing on NYC streets or buildings or in the subway

is that no one cares. Everyone's done it, everyone's seen it. Everyone has walked around puddles of it. No big deal.

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Gosh, that's such a better idea than installing porta potties

or public restrooms.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[NV Whino]

8. I have found the lack of public toilets in America

totally amazing.

San Francisco finally has put public toilets on the street... but amazingly, during the peace marches in the past two or three years, they were all out of order. 50,000 to 80,000 to 100,000 people in one place and no toilets?

[Nevernose]

9. I got busted for public urination once

It was the Las Vegas strip, New Year's Eve. A group of people walked past as I was pissing in the middle of the road; we actually exchanged pleasantries. Following them was a pair of cops, and I exchanged pleasantries with them, too. They asked if I was planning on driving (mind you, I was still writing my name on the asphalt with pee), I said "no", and they told me to have a good night.

That was also the night I watched a guy take a dump off the roof of the Monte Carlo casino. The Doobie Brothers played live in the street, they imploded a building, and when the beer ran out some hippie gave us an ounce of magic mushrooms. Ahhh, the memories...

Thanks. Just thought I'd share that with y'all :)