Welcome back from Spring Break! I’m sure you had a great week of living the wild life and have some fond memories to look back on. That’s what Spring Break is all about.
For me, I’m a bit older and slower, but when a friend offered the chance to check out a concert this last weekend I jumped at the chance. The ska band was incredible, but I was not ready for the mosh pit. Okay, it was fun, but after it was all over, I think I was definitely ready to hop onto my Rascal scooter and putt on home.

 

 

[media-credit name=”Justin Ma” align=”alignleft” width=”250″][/media-credit]In between conversations about the various aches and pains, one of my buddies asked a couple of great questions. First of all, yes, put ice on the eye, and secondly:

 

 

Isn’t it illegal to have a mosh pit?

Whether or not my “friend” was trying to get some good blackmail material on me or if he was really wondering, it is still a good question. I don’t see mosh pits in Isla Vista very often, but when they do happen we are required to address them. Moshing, or slamming, is not illegal. However, Santa Barbara County Ordinances (36-6) consider parties that have moshing, or slam dancing, to be considered a “public nuisance” and they can be shut down due to the fights and injuries that can happen. Although most people are just having fun and it’s all good natured, there are those people who take it to the next level and it becomes a chance to just brawl. As usual, the few ruin it for the many.

But if the ordinance does not apply to concerts, why is it not allowed there? It’s up to each concert venue to allow or not allow moshing to go on. If they let it happen, they might not be covered by their insurance, and if someone gets hurt and sues (usually the jerk who took it to the next level), the venue could lose their business. As much as the managers may love the music and amped atmosphere, business is business.

I, I mean a “friend,” never paid a bike ticket. Could there be a warrant out for her arrest?

As simple as a bike ticket may be, it is still an agreement with the court that you will take care of it. I mean, your “friend” will take care of it. When you get tickets, you are given about four to six weeks to take care of them by paying the fine or going to court. Your signing of the ticket is agreeing to take care of it. When you fail to take care of it as you agreed, the court adds an additional charge of “failure to appear” with a huge fine. A warrant is issued for your arrest and if contacted by the police, you could be arrested and taken to jail.

Chances are if your friend stuck the ticket in a sock drawer and forgot about it, there will likely be a warrant. The good news is all that is needed to take care of it is to go to the court and talk to the court clerk. You can still go to court and contest the ticket and the extra fine is usually dropped. If you are not sure if there is a warrant and you want to find out, just call the court or the police. We can check the computer database and see if a warrant is there. Please note I said call. I am not recommending walking into a police station and asking the officer if you are a wanted fugitive. I would think that would be an obvious no-no, but you would be surprised…

I have several parking tickets at UCSB. What happens if I don’t pay them?

First of all, kudos to the parking reps who get more crud from people than anyone, but keep on smiling. In regards to the tickets, if the car is linked back to a student, the fines and penalties can be attached to your student accounts. If not there, the information about the unpaid tickets may get forwarded to the Department of Motor Vehicles. When that happens, the DMV can put a hold on the vehicle registration until the fees and fines are paid. So it eventually could catch up to you.

The follow-up question is always, “Can I be arrested for unpaid parking tickets?” Unless you got a parking ticket for clubbing someone over the head with a parking meter, no, you won’t get arrested. However, if there are five or more late unpaid tickets, your car could get towed and held until they are paid.

Ahh, Spring Break is over and it’s time to focus on the serious things in life such as classes, grades, graduating and what the results of combining the genetic code of a shark and octopus could mean for the human race. Yup, my Blu-ray of “Sharktopus” has arrived. Time to go, ah, study…

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.

Sgt. Mark Signa is an officer for IVFP.

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