It's on! It's off! It's on! It's off! It's . . . maybe on again: Sometimes I just love the dis-functionality of the democratic republic process of figuring out whether something is a great idea or really, really bad. Apparently the Stop and Frisk activity was really working to lower crime rates in certain segments of the city, making the innocent citizens living there feel like maybe they were safe for the first time in their lives . . . but obviously that was a very bad thing because it made the criminal element feel like they were being picked on, and so perfectly safe and protected gated-community dwellers suffering from achie-breakie heat syndrome "Won't somebody think of the poor suffering criminals discommoded by this policy?!" decided that an effective policy was a very, very bad thing indeed. Back and forth it goes and where it stops nobody knows. Gotta love it!
Good. I dont know if stop and frisk as currently practiced is a good idea, but this arguments from discrimination dont hold much water. Not saying it does not happen, just that is is inconsequential.
Well considering the civil rights that both the Left and the Right have infringed upon in the name of public safety since 9-11 occurred, perhaps this infringement isn't so terrible as such things go since if you are not holding an illegal weapon on you then you get released on the spot. But then again I can concede that you do have to draw the civil rights infringement line somewhere. Heh . . . but maybe not right there, eh?
Police need "reasonalble suspicion" to believe that you have committed a crime to be able to stop and frisk anybody. Why doesn't this apply to New York?
Gee, why can't everybody feel that way about the government when the IRS and NSA investigate? After all, these activities stop tax fraud and terrorist actions and make us all safer. So why the double standards when it comes to government actions???
Psssst . . . perhaps it's because the government is SPYING on its own citizens, you think? Now it also appears that they are seriously thinking about getting into blackmail as well. You think it will only stop with suspected terrorists or terrorist symphathizers? As for 'stop and frisk' it's in the OPEN. Nobody has to wonder what the hell is happening. Nobody is going to be blackmailed. There's nothing secretive about it. Meh . . . but I concede that it's a slippery slope.
I suggest you go back and see my posts about police planting evidence during so many of those illegal raids - had any of that been done by the IRS or NSA the right wing delusionals would be all up in arms.
Sure it happens, which is why there are such things as a free press and internal investigations. It's rare, though, and that's because there is too great of risk of the wrong person talking or the wrong test being performed. Generally speaking cops plant evidence only when it's their rump on the line and so it's frame the patsy or go to jail themselves. The point being that there are safeguards in place that have been demonstrated to be somewhat effective over time; but the government spying stuff with attendant 'sanctioned' blackmail and extortion done with only one lone judicial body reviewing anything and with that body having been selected to BE a rubber stamp body on the whole? Not good!
