Keep Moving

Recently there was a new item about two men being escorted by the police exiting a coffee shop for loitering.

Loitering has historically been treated as an inherent preceding offense to other forms of public crime and disorder, such as prostitution, begging, public drunkenness, dealing in stolen goods, scams, organized crime, robbery, harassment/mobbing, etc. Especially when criminal intent is suspected but not observed, loitering provides a lesser offense that can be used by police to confront and deter suspect individuals from lingering in a high-crime area.

Local areas vary on the degree to which police are empowered to arrest or disperse loiterers; limitations on their power are sometimes made over concerns regarding racial profiling and unnecessary use of police force.

The offense remains highly subjective: in many places, loitering is a crime in and of itself, while in others it is not, and serious criminal activity must be observed before police can confront any suspect.

Loitering is to stand or wait around idly or without apparent purpose, linger, wait, skulk; loaf, lounge, idle, laze, waste time, lollygag, hang around, archaic tarry, travel indolently and with frequent pauses, dawdle, stroll, amble, saunter, meander, drift, putter, take one's time; dilly-dally and mosey.

There are signs posted warning malingerers not to toddle around without suspicion from others.

This is where our bias and presumptions define our perceptions. If the person(s) look appropriate for the clientele with proper dress and demeanor, they are not given a second notice. The bias of skin color is for another discussion.

Proprietors of service providers have to be concerned in keeping a flow of customers to make a profit. If you have ever gotten with a group of friends at whatever sort of restaurant or pub or coffee shop and after you have had your drinks and paid your bill decided to just hangout, you may have noticed how the waitress frequently ask you for further orders or start cleaning the table? This is all an effort to get you to clear out so another customer can sit down and spend some more money.

A ‘no loitering’ signs only state this area is not for hanging out but it doesn’t tell you for how long or what the consequences are if you do.

The debate will continue and kids without enough money to get into a club or people without shelter in the rain or just a gang that doesn’t want to end the party can decide if the living room should be a ‘loitering area’ but perhaps moving along would help with the obesity problem?

A Malingerer