I was in Pioneer Square just now, interviewing someone for an unrelated story, when a Portland Patrol Services guard, or rent-a-cop, walked up, and told a street kid he could not plug his cell phone into the square's electricity outlets...

ENFORCING THE RULES, OR HARRASSING THE KIDS, OR BOTH? OR NEITHER?

The guard, right, told Kaleb, left, that by charging his phone in one of the Pioneer Square outlets, he was "stealing electricity from the city," and faced being "written up for theft."

"I just see an open outlet, somewhere I can plug my phone in," said the kid. "It's not posted anywhere that I can't plug my phone in here."

"Well, it's posted somewhere," said the guard. "It's just not posted here."