A cop in Baytown, Texas got the tables turned on him when a 14-year-old girl wrote him a ticket for illegal parking. Annie James noticed Officer Tommy King’s police cruiser was parked in a fire zone by her apartment complex, according to Yahoo.

“He was parked on the side of the building and it was a fire lane all the way around,” Annie said. So, she stuck it to the cop and wrote him a $10 ticket which she made payable to the building’s manager.

“I came to my car and I saw a piece of paper on my windshield,” King said. “I took it off and opened it and read it and I started laughing immediately.”

Officer King noticed a rare quality in Annie, as he observed that she, unlike most teens, didn’t want the money for herself.

“Turns out we’re both from Alabama and end up in Texas,” King said. “It’s interesting … I made a friend. A lesson would be not to be shy or afraid of law enforcement. We’re here to help.”

Officer King did, in fact, pay the fine. But he went a step further. He also awarded Annie with a $40 gift card to Toys R Us.

I can’t help but wonder what the world would be like with a little more vigilante ticketing. Would police corruption be a thing of the past if a child handed a misbehaving officer a ticket for accepting bribes or threatening people? Would uncalled-for beatings cease if these little wide-eyed do-gooders were watching with a ticket book in their hands?

I would also like to see concerned citizens write tickets for wearing leggings as pants. Or perhaps we could impose fines on others for rudeness or excessive moping. Maybe even illegal prying into the business of a good citizen?

I guess the potential for backfire is undeniable, but a girl can dream. Can’t she?

Image via YouTube