Destiny threw her purse across the clearing. She was more angry than Jim had ever seen her. She needed to calm down and a cigarette would help. When she could find her voice she finally explained she had gotten a ticket from patrolman officer Travis. This policeman was well known by the people who lived around the area. The consensus was that probably he had been frightened as a child by a homeless person and it left him with a lifelong aversion to seeing them on the street. Except that now he had a gun and a badge to protect him as he set about ridding his area of such people.
Travis's MO was to issue a ticket in another precinct that would be difficult to contest without personal transportation. With the possibility of payment nonexistent a judge would issue a warrant which would show up on computers whenever a name was checked out. When a number of these misdemeanors were accumulated, the person would be taken to the city jail to stay overnight. In the morning a judge would take served time, wipe out any warrants and release them. Now the problem is getting home from across town with no money or transportation.
All of it was simple harassment of defenseless people. The city or the taxpayers incurred numerous costs for nothing except Officer Travis's vanity and personal satisfaction. I personally believe he had a sadistic nature but was too afraid of imposing his will on someone who might strike back. Destiny finally accepted it as an occupational hazard to avoid in future.
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