{"id":2430,"date":"2014-03-07T11:30:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T16:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mysecuritysign.com\/blog\/?p=2430"},"modified":"2023-05-02T05:57:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T09:57:44","slug":"ceo-summons-central-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysecuritysign.com/blog\/ceo-summons-central-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrong place, wrong time, but did this CEO deserve a summons?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the morning of Thursday, February 27, Peter Shankman had two things on his mind: his busy schedule and his upcoming Ironman competition. In order to squeeze training into his day, he planned a 10-mile run, starting before 4:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Shankman headed to New York City\u2019s Central Park, entering at 63rd<\/sup> Street and Central Park West. The first two miles of his run were uneventful. Then, police stopped him on the park\u2019s east side near 85th<\/sup> Street.<\/p>\n

An officer asked why he was running so early in the morning and informed him that Central Park is actually closed between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Not content to leave it at a warning, the officer proceeded to write Shankman a summons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Should<\/a>

Should it be legal to jog in the park before it opens? From Jeffrey Zeldman.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Outraged athlete<\/b><\/h3>\n

Shankman is set to appear in court in May and plans to fight the ticket. So certainly some taxpayer dollars are being put to work on this case. Is ticketing early morning runners the best use of those dollars?<\/p>\n

Shankman certainly doesn\u2019t think so. He called the whole thing \u201cridiculous.\u201d He says that he doesn\u2019t believe he violated the law because it\u2019s meant to prevent people from spending the night in the park, not to deter runners from pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, he says that by trying to stay in shape, he was acting in accordance with many other laws, such as one banning smoking in bars and another banning sales of super-sized sodas.<\/p>\n

Not only that, Shankman pointed out that there weren\u2019t any signs, gates or traffic cones at the park entrance he used, indicating the hours the park is open. How was he<\/i> supposed to know it was closed?<\/p>\n

Wrong side of the law<\/b><\/h3>\n

Most likely, Shankman is not this law\u2019s target audience. But it doesn\u2019t seem to make a special exception for runners. And he\u2019s right when he says that he was in line with other laws, but that seems a bit beside the point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unfortunate he didn\u2019t realize he wasn\u2019t supposed to be in Central Park at 4:30 in the morning. The city really ought to post a sign. Then again, ignorance of the law isn’t a stellar excuse for breaking it. By that argument, anyone could claim ignorance of any number of laws and get away with, well, murder if you want to take it to the extreme.<\/p>\n

Of course, some crimes, like murder, are more obviously criminal than others, like running in a park during the wrong time frame.<\/p>\n

Waste of time crime?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Is this case \u201ca waste of taxpayer dollars,\u201d as Shankman describes it?  Well, yes and no. It\u2019s difficult to argue that runners\u2014running purely for health and enjoyment and not from a crime scene\u2014ought to be targeted by a law likely meant to keep riff-raff out of Central Park. However, police are clearly taking this law seriously if they\u2019re willing to ticket a runner for disobeying it.<\/p>\n

As it stands, the law is designed to keep everyone<\/i> out of the park between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. It doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t ask police to accept that anyone running by in athletic gear must be an upstanding citizen, while anyone sleeping on a park bench is a criminal.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, Shankman wasn’t entitled to be let off with just a warning. He broke the law and got his ticket. Hopefully, his case will lead to changes that improve the law, if needed, as well as the methods used to publicize it.<\/p>\n

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