LOL you know what I was referring to.

I'd probably be asked/told to leave and if I refused to comply they could call the cops. Highly doubt they'd say "clean this up."

Hence why I said cite her and be done with it.

True. However, I've also been in situations where the cops were pricks from the start. You can imagine how the exchange went. Got in an accident once (it was my fault) pulling out from a light barely went 50 yards and the cop tried to tell me I was going to fast for conditions on a sunny day. Not only that, he was a prick about it and said I must have been speeding. Not the case ... can't get a Civic going very fast in 50 yards. I was fine for being written up, but at least write me up for the right thing without being a prick.

If that's his idea of a break, I'll take the $50 or whatever fine it is thank you very much.

That's fine, but he wasn't within his right to tell her to clean it up.

Of course, and if the officer handled it how she said it happened, that probably would have pissed her off even more because she knows how an LEO should have handled it.

Bad situation all around, but I'm not going to give the cop a free pass on this one because he was trying to be "nice."

The bigger question to me is, if she's an ex-LEO (Secret Service) why does she still have creds and a badge?[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately for your argument the tape tells a VERY different story. After the water was spilled the woman attempted to walk away two times (that are obvious). The second time, the LEO grabbed her shoulder and physically stopped her. She is then held there until the bike officer arrives. Then TSA bring her the paper towels.

In the time that all this took, the spill could easily have already been cleaned.

No, this was about the cop punishing the woman and getting the woman to respect her authori-tie. Not about removing the hazard. And punishment, in this country, is the purview of a judge or a jury of her peers, NOT a cop on a power-trip.

The underlying problem is that if you let someone get away with inappropriate actions once, it's only going to get worse.

Making her clean it up was pretty stupid and if it was considered a "hazard" the area should have been blocked off immediately.

Either you are here for protection, or your not. The odds of someone slipping on a wet floor are pretty good at most airports I've been to.

And the cop had means of assigning that punishment within the law. It was called a fine.

That's what the custodial crew is there for.

I think he was trying to do it verbally. Why issue a summons to someone who is obviously traveling if there are other means to resolve the issue.

So they just leave the water unattended until a janitor can get there? My point was they should have kept people from walking near it if they considered it a hazard.

BTW, in some airports, it doesn't look like the cleaning crews are too anxious to do anything.

OK, so I'm a bit late in the game on this thread, but I must be missing something. What was the nightmare??? It's a well-known rule, like it or not, that liquids cannot be brought through security with very few exceptions. Was the pax somehow incapable of buying a bottle of water after security and then refilling the sippy cup instead of pitching a fit?

While I think the TSA as a whole and all of its myriad of ridiculous regulations are pointless, the rules are the rules. Follow them or don't fly.

It's the horror of one person having to follow the rules that the rest of us do.

Then when the paper towels showed up she should have said no. And then received her summons. Either way she doesn't get to walk away. The cop gave her a choice - clean this up or summons. Whats it gonna be? He didn't decide her punishment, she did. Its what's called officer discretion.

I'll bet you next time the cop just gives someone a ticket so then this board can be lit up outraged over a cop giving out a ticket.

And, dollars to doughnuts, someone will say, "Why didn't the cop just let them clean it up? Jeez!"

What if the cop had said, 'Stand on one leg and say the pledge of allegiance or get a ticket?'

Sorry: no.

The cop's discretion ends at either giving a ticket or not giving a ticket. A verbal warning? Sure. Take some remedial action/punishment or I will give you a ticket? Well outside the scope of the LEO's authority or right. That's actually called coercion. And under the guise of the authority of a badge it's real crap.

I totally agree with you about one thing, though: if it were me I would have simply refused to clean it up. 'I'm sorry, Koko regulations prevent me from cleaning more than three ounces of liquid from your floors. You'll need to check that spill to your final destination.'

Do you think there is any legal support for the idea that a cop's demand that someone take some remedial action to correct an infraction is "well outside the LEO's authority or right?" And it's coercion? That might be the law in the land of kokonutz, but it's not in this country.

"DROP THE GUN!": well within authority.

"GET A MOP AND BUCKET AND CLEAN UP THAT MESS OR I WILL ARREST YOU!": well outside authority.

Or how about: "STOP RUNNING AWAY IN YOUR HYUNDAI OR WE WILL BEAT YOU WITH BATONS AND FLASHLIGHTS FOR 7 MINUTES?"

I acknowledge that cops have a certain very limited discretion to deal with a potential violation of the law. But a cop is a cop, not a judge, jury nor penal official. She had no right to put that woman on a virtual chain gang. What is this, Let's Make a Deal?

Besides, as I said above, the LEO made the situation WORSE, not better, by detaining that woman there then coercing her into cleaning up the spill.

Here is exactly what I would have said to that LEO: "Arrest me or leave me alone. And keep your damn hands off of me."

Part of the strategy to survive successfully in life is to know when you can win the war and when you are against a superior enemy.

Waring against the TSA is a losing battle.

From the story, it appears as if they were agreeable with the concept of having her bring an empty sippy cup through. She should have been apologetic, like saying sorry to the Stasi or KGB in order to be let out of secret police custody.

Recently, a TSA agent disallowed by bottle of sunscreen but then let it go after seeing it was 4 oz. and asking me to check it in on the way back. Yes, of course, sorry, thank you instead of noting that it was almost empty. Fighting that battle is not one that can be won.

This discretion is much less limited than you acknowledge. A demand from a cop that you pick up something you just littered is not a usurptation of the roles of judge, jury nor penal official. If you refuse to comply, the cop may not judge you guilty, nor may he/she sentence you to jail time or a fine. The cop's sole recourse if you don't comply is to cite you for the infraction.

You may well argue for a change in the law, but understand what the law is before you do that.

I don't think that's necessarily the cop's problem.

Agreed, and I never said they shouldn't. I just said she shouldn't have been teh one to clean it up.

I don't know many cleaning crews who are, but that really doesn't matter.

No she behaved like a ...... But being a ..... should not get you detained for 10 minutes and be swarmed by 5+ LEO's and other arm-band wearing guys "just following orders"

The correct thing to have done in this case is for the LEO to have said "Ma'am that's not a nice thing to have done. Have a nice day"

That's it. No arm grabbing. No public application of discipline. Did this airport get moved to Saudi Arabia and they forgot to tell us?? What is the point of forcing her to clean up the freedom water on the floor??? Please. The LEO was simply on a power trip. I hope they get sued for millions. This woman with a baby and member of the secret service is going to make a fantastic plaintiff.