Hello again! I am glad to see almost everyone made it through Halloween pretty well. I had the opportunity to talk to several people who had a few difficulties, but most of the students I spoke to seemed to have a pretty good weekend. This year it was nice seeing the crowds weren’t as big and crazy as some years. If we could keep this a local event, I think Halloween would be great. Also, speaking as someone who owns not one, but two gorilla costumes and a matching banana suit, I also appreciated the sense of humor that many of you had. Hats off to the folks who put the Del Playa directional signs on Los Carneros with arrows pointing north towards the mountains. That was awesome. Oh wait, I mean, that was improper and potentially hazardous to send unwary travelers away from their destination and into the Santa Barbara airport swamps. Shame on you, sir. Shame on you. But just between you and me, that was good!

 

My friend got a beer ticket last weekend, but he lives in Northern California. Does he have to show up to court or can he just mail in the fine?

I know there are some questions that I am asked and have answered numerous times before, but they are important and worth repeating. So, yes. Although William Shatner will always be the iconic James T. Kirk, the broader range of Patrick Stewart as Capt. Picard made him the better captain and helped bring a wider acceptance of the Star Trek universe to the general public. But in regards to your question, if you are under 21 years old and get cited or arrested for any drug or alcohol-related offense, you are required to appear in court for the first hearing. Even if you live out of town, you still have to make arrangements to appear. Court dates can be changed to work with your schedule to some degree, so have your friend call the court and see what they can do to work with him. The court feels that it is important that people learn about the system and how to maneuver through it.

 

My side view mirror was broken at some point over the weekend. Should I even bother making a police report about it?

Considering the cost of fixing an automatic mirror, or even just replacing the car’s floor mats, there is a good chance you might need to file a claim with your insurance for the repair. If that’s the case, the insurance companies require some type of report or case number for the claim. So you will need to call or stop by to report the vandalism. The report only takes a few minutes and you can be in and out faster than a fluffy bunny stopping by a grizzly bear convention. Okay, that was weak, but if you had any idea how many unprintable ideas floating around my head I had to filter through just to get that one …

And as a side note, there are times we catch people breaking mirrors, so if you report it, there might be a chance we have the person responsible and you could make them pay for the damage. Like a rich fluffy bunny at a grizz … oh, never mind.

 

My neighbor’s car alarm keeps going on and off all night. She won’t fix it. Is there anything I can do about it?

As much as you might want to throw cute fluffy bunnies at the car, it won’t help. And it might be slightly offensive to PETA. Instead, you can call us. We would first try to locate the owner and get them to disconnect or shut off the alarm. If that doesn’t work, we can tow a car for having the alarm going off for 20 minutes after we get there, even intermittently. We would rather get the owner to quiet the alarm, but if they won’t or can’t, the car can end up in car jail. And then it will probably end up with some really tough Chevy cell mates who will make it a long miserable night.

 

So that’s it for this week. If you found yourself one of the unlucky few who ran into some troubles over Halloween week, or ever, do not hesitate to send me a note with any questions or concerns and I will be there to help out. Oh, and to save a couple of you the time of writing: No, regardless of what the sign and arrow said, that big long asphalt roadway with planes landing on it was not Del Playa.

 

Sgt. Mark Signa knows fluffy bunny analogies help you get any point across.

 

Got caught by a cop? Your party popped by the Po-Po? Ticked by a ticket? If you have questions, don’t let it eat away at you, Question Authority! E-mail me anytime at: QA@police.ucsb.edu or call UCSB PD at 893-3446.

 

 

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