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Question: Is skateboarding a crime?

Answer: Skateboarding itself is not a crime. However, skateboarding in certain locations may be a crime.

The owners of property - homes, shopping centers, parks, etc.- have the right to set reasonable rules for what visitors to their property can do while they are visitors. Owners could be individual people, in the case of a house, a company, in the case of a shopping center, or a city government, in the case of a park. It is common to see signs on property that prohibits skateboarding. This prohibition would be a reasonable rule because skateboarding could cause injury to both the skateboarder and other visitors. A property owner can be held responsible for injuries incurred by visitors while on their property and so most property owners try to set rules that reduce the likelihood for injuries occurring. If skateboarding in a certain place is prohibited and you are caught skateboarding there, you could be charged with the crime of trespassing, as well as other crimes depending on if anything on the property was damaged due to the skateboarding or if someone was injured.

Some cities have passed ordinances (city laws) that make skateboarding illegal in certain places. It is illegal to skateboard in the street, other than in a crosswalk, in Mesa. It is illegal to skateboard in or around city buildings in Chandler. You should check with your local police department to see if there are specific restrictions like this in your city.

There are many public places where skateboarding is encouraged like Scottsdale Skateboard Park. Its best to skateboard in areas made for skateboarding.


Comments
26 thru 30 of 195 comments
On 11/19/07
hector from AL said:
skateboarding is our way of expressing ourselves. if cops take that away then their takin our rights of expression.
On 07/21/07
matt from NC said:
i mean seriously what is the big deal i think we should be able to skate where ever we want i dont have a skate park around me for a good 50 miles and ill never travel that far just to pay to get into a skate park i mean i like in a back road area and i skate there all the time its not like i have anywhere else to skate.....if they try to stop me i will go to court with it cause there has been many cases of skateboarders rebelling because they try to prohibit us from skating and the skateboarders won and i garentee that i will win too its bull crap that they can controll us.Skating is healthy!
On 02/22/07
cesar from CA said:
I think that skateboarding should never become a crime nor I think it is bad. I say this because us skateboarders have a passion for what we do and have no other way wer have to express ourselves. If even they might not agree with us I think that they (they as is in cops, securtity, store managers, etc)than at least be curtious enough to ask us to leave nicely no matter how hostile the situation may get because yelling will only get us more rilled up and make us want to rebel.
On 02/10/07
J.R. from NC said:
My friends and i skate where we live in Chatham county, NC and there is only 2-3 places where we can legally skate. Those places arent even any good. The skatepark idea is better, but skateparks have too many rules, and tend to be overcrowded. I think you should be allowed to skate anywhere, at your own risk....and the rules against skating could be viewed as discriminatory because there are rules against skateboarders, but not rollerblading and biking, which is very unfair.
On 01/29/07
Rick from TX said:
skateboarding has got to be the least criminal sport out there. It keeps kids from getting into other bad habits.
26 thru 30 of 195 comments



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