I have a different idea for handling a naughty Elmo. Brass knuckles to the "giggle plexes". No badge is going to stop bad behaviour, in fact you give a badge to some people and it makes them worse, personal experience talking here.

Okay....giggle plexes? I am guessing that a brass knuckle shot will not cause one to giggle.

More cops in Times Square? Sometimes it seems cops damn near outnumber citizens. Plus, this is NYPD. If they shoot at somebody and miss (which is more often than not) they charge the unarmed "perpetrator" with the murder or wounding of those these "highly trained" jackasses shoot "by accident". It ain't the costumed weirdos that make me avoid Times Square (and the rest of Manhattan and the other Boroughs) as much as I can. I average less than a trip a month across the Hudson and I can see the Manhattan skyline from half a block up from my house.

You may not be aware of the density of people and businesses around Times Square. One cop couldn't know all of them along one block, one side of the street. Especially since most folks on that sidewalk are just passing through going somewhere else, commuters and shoppers coming out of the busiest subway stations in the whole damned city. And tourists.

Well of coarse I want THAT picture. Maybe with her mom in it too.

is the costume washed on a regular basis for starters...don't touch another's hand for example. seriously-the violation of common sense rules is ginormous

wait- you HAVE to want a pic of Kira if she makes it into ASIII

Part of the reason I steer clear of Disney Land... that and all the freaky people NOT in costumes.

I wonder if the badge would really help stop criminal behavior. It certainly would if people wrote down the number. It seems like it would be better to have more police officers on patrol there. If a police officer sees it, detains the suspect in costume, and takes statements from witnesses, it is just as good as having badges.

In general I think we need more police officers walking around areas they know well. We should also make most everything legal. If many things are illegal, people are reluctant to work with the police officers. Laws that require licensing to wear a costume are paradoxically part of the problem.

I do not think the organization that recommended licensing is promoting statism. Given our modern society, I think the characters should be licensed and regulated to. But on the grand scale, I want to move away from licensing.

One police officer walking around who knows the residents and business owners, who doesn't care about their pot use, their speeding, their vehicle registration, their handgun, their 17 y/o g/f, their stupid neo-nazi beliefs, etc, could do more than licensing and regulating the world.

I never saw the point in that. I don't even want pictures of real actors let alone cartoons.

serves people right for wanting their picture taken with someone they don't know dressed up as a disney character in times Square. duh

I can't believe he said that and suggested that all this would stop if these guys had a license.

Licensing and regulation = code for fees and taxes.