Phone ordinance could give police new arrest charge

BURTON — With the impending adoption of a new ordinance, Burton police can now charge citizens who damage phones and computers in an attempt to sever lines of communication.

City Attorney Richard Austin says that when applied to typical situations, the law will most likely deal with cases of domestic assault.

“I hate to be sexist but typically when we come across these situations, it’s usually a male with priors beating up on a female and [he] rips the phone out of the wall to prevent her from calling 911,” he said.

Austin explains that with the adoption of the ordinance outlawing malicious use of a telephone or a computer, police can not only charge the suspect with domestic assault but also with computer or phone destruction.

He says that oftentimes prosecuting attorneys take into consideration whether or not the means of communication were terminated when entering a plea bargain.

“It would be used primarily for the biggest, baddest criminals,” said Austin.

The new ordinance could also apply in bullying cases.

The move already has the backing of current police chief Tom Osterholzer in addition to previous police chief John Benthall.

It’s just to basically help our community,” said Legislative Committee Chair Ellen Ellenburg. “When a person is in distress, they reach for the phone first to feel safer.”

A first reading of the ordinance is planned for the first council meeting in February.