DC: Police State, aka "Neighborhood Safety Zones"

H

hammer4nc

Moderator
Comment: Not to be ignored, DC is the epicenter of strict gun control; which works so well! Will this new concept spread through the rest of the country?

http://www.examiner.com/a-1423820~L...n_latest_effort_to_stop_wave_of_violence.html

Lanier plans to seal off rough ’hoods in latest effort to stop wave of violence

Jun 4, 2008 3:00 AM (1 day ago) by Michael Neibauer and Bill Myers, The Examiner

WASHINGTON D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.

Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.

Lanier has been struggling to reverse D.C.’s spiraling crime rate but has been forced by public outcry to scale back several initiatives including her “All Hands on Deck” weekends and plans for warrantless, door-to-door searches for drugs and guns.

Under today’s proposal, the no-go zones will last up to 10 days, according to internal police documents. Front-line officers are already being signed up for training on running the blue curtains.

Peter Nickles, the city’s interim attorney general, said the quarantine would have “a narrow focus.”

“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,” Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.”

Others are. Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the D.C. police union and a former lawyer, called the checkpoint proposal “breathtaking.”

Shelley Broderick, president of the D.C.-area American Civil Liberties Union and the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, said the plan was “cockamamie.”

“I think they tried this in Russia and it failed,” she said. “It’s just our experience in this city that we always end up targeting poor people and people of color, and we treat the kids coming home from choir practice the same as we treat those kids who are selling drugs.”

The proposal has the provisional support of D.C. Councilman Harry “Tommy” Thomas, D-Ward 5, whose ward has become a war zone.

“They’re really going to crack down on what we believe to be a systemic problem with open-air drug markets,” Thomas told The Examiner.

Thomas said, though, that he worried about D.C. “moving towards a police state.”

Staff Writer Scott McCabe contributed to this report.
 
Yahvohl, Herr Oberst, Papierien Bitte!!!!

Maybe they can put up a sign Arbecht Mach Frei.

They had that at Auschwitz, assigned work parties men with machinguns standing guard on every corner. For our own safety of course. Who can object to these common sense safety measures, for the children of course.:mad:

First they came for the Drug dealers, and Terrorists and I didnt object
Then they came for the poor people and I didnt object.
Then they came for the gun owners and I didnt object.
When they came for me no one was left to object.
 
Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.
Click to expand...

My legitimate purpose is it is public property and I am the public.

I know who they are trying to target but such a policy can just as easily be twisted into use for any purpose the politicians want. Once you give them such power you don't get it back.

Personally I am enjoying watching the collapse of Washington DC. The city epitomizes the nanny state with gov't responsible for everything. It is a perfect experiment to watch fail.
 
"It is a perfect experiment to watch fail."

Exactly. *Let* them try all these absurd, heavy-handed authoritarian measures and fall flat on their faces time and again. I can't count the number of times I've been arguing with an anti and simply pointed to DC as an example of how well gun laws work--and the stricter they are, the harder they fall.

Tim
 
I proclaim myself the first refugee from DC

I'm only 1/2 kidding about that too. The wife and I saw what was going on in that city and said "that's enough, we're leaving".

Eight months ago I outlined the following scenario to my wife.
1) First they disarmed the good guys
2) The criminals then felt free to run rampant
3) Then the authorities will use the ever increasing wave of crime as an excuse to "bring the hammer down"
4) DC will become a police state (or as close as makes no difference).

It's really just a parallel to using "terror threats" as an excuse to trample all over the Constitution.

I'm just astounded it took them 8 months to get to this point. I thought it was going to happen within weeks of the time we had picked to move out.
 
We've got plenty of examples of this over here in Blighty - do yourselves a favour and watch our big steaming fertiliser sandwich instead of duplicating it yourselves. *sigh*
 
With any luck this will mean that they will cordon off the capital building and keep dangerous people like Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer away from it.
 
“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,” Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.”
Click to expand...

What the hell. I find it hard to believe any political figure would actually have to ignorance to spew forth somthing like that. Police state indeed.
 
What the hell. I find it hard to believe any political figure would actually have to ignorance to spew forth somthing like that. Police state indeed.
Click to expand...

You're forgetting that they see themselves not as public servants, but as part of the ruling elite, unaccountable to no one.
 
I recall they tried this type of thing somewhere else. And yes, in the heavily police and controlled area crime went down. In the surrounding areas, crime went up. Usually at the same percentage as the crime going down in the patrolled area.
 
The Washington Post has a similar article here.

D.C. Police to Check Drivers In Violence-Plagued Trinidad
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 5, 2008; A01

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area.

Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers' identification and ask whether they have a "legitimate purpose" to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away.

The Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative is the latest crime-fighting attempt by Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who have been under pressure from residents to stop a recent surge in violence. Last weekend was especially bloody, with seven slayings, including three in the Trinidad area.

"In certain areas, we need to go beyond the normal methods of policing," Fenty (D) said at a news conference announcing the action. "We're going to go into an area and completely shut it down to prevent shootings and the sale of drugs."

The checkpoint will stop vehicles approaching the 1400 block of Montello Avenue NE, a section of the Trinidad neighborhood that has been plagued with homicides and other violence. Police will search cars if they suspect the presence of guns or drugs, and will arrest people who do not cooperate, under a charge of failure to obey a police officer, officials said.

The enforcement will take place at random hours and last for at least five days in Trinidad, with the option of extending it five more days. Checkpoints could be set up in other neighborhoods if they are requested by patrol commanders and approved by Lanier.

The strategy, patterned after a similar effort conducted years ago in New York, is not airtight. There are many ways to get in and out of Trinidad, not just on the one-way Montello Avenue. And pedestrians will not be stopped, which is something critics say might render the program ineffective.

"I guess the plan is to hope criminals will not walk into neighborhoods," said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large). "I also suppose the plan is to take the criminal's word for it when he or she gives the police a reason for driving into a neighborhood."

The program is aimed at the city's most troubled areas. The 5th Police District, which includes Trinidad, has had 22 killings this year, one more than all of last year. Since April 1, the Trinidad neighborhood has had seven homicides, 16 robberies and 20 assaults with dangerous weapons, according to police data. In many cases in Trinidad and across the city, gunshots are fired from passing cars, victims are found in cars or cars are used to make fast getaways.

"We have to try to take away the things that are facilitating the ability to commit crime," Lanier said.

Leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union said yesterday that they will be watching what happens closely and that legal action is likely.

"My reaction is, welcome to Baghdad, D.C.," said Arthur Spitzer, legal director for the ACLU's Washington office. "I mean, this is craziness. In this country, you don't have to show identification or explain to the police why you want to travel down a public street."

Interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said that his office reviewed the initiative and that similar efforts had survived court tests.

"I don't anticipate us being sued," Nickles said. "But if you do want to sue us, the courts are open."

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor said that D.C. officials consulted his office about their plans and that prosecutors suggested some changes to try to ensure that any arrests would hold up in court. "We applaud the District's efforts to make neighborhoods safer," Taylor said. "Whatever we do has to be consistent with the Constitution."

New York police set up a nearly identical checkpoint in 1992 in a neighborhood of the Bronx that was plagued by drug dealing and drive-by shootings. Police ran the Watson Avenue Special Operation on a random basis, mostly in evening hours. Officers stopped drivers, but not pedestrians, coming into the area, to confirm that they had a legitimate reason to be there.

A federal appeals court upheld the legality of the New York effort, saying in a 1996 ruling that it "served an important public concern" and was "reasonably viewed as an effective mechanism to deter crime in the barricaded area."

D.C. police have used various forms of checkpoints for years. In 1988, for example, they blocked streets and searched courtyards in a pair of apartment complexes in Northeast Washington in a bid to drive out drug dealers. That move came during the crack cocaine epidemic, in a year when the city recorded 372 homicides. Last year, the city had 181 killings.

Former D.C. police chief Isaac Fulwood Jr., who led the department from 1989 until 1992, said he liked using checkpoints because his officers were able to make arrests and gather intelligence.

"They are effective. You recover stolen cars and firearms," Fulwood said. "You've got to have a lot of them if you're going to have them. You need to move as the criminal element shifts."

Some residents expressed support for the plan yesterday, saying they are willing to submit to the checks if it makes the neighborhood safer. "We can't endure any more homicides," said neighborhood activist India Henderson.

But others said they were disappointed police have not developed relationships that would allow them to gather information and find criminals without resorting to the stepped-up tactics.

"I knew eventually we'd be a police state," said Wilhelmina Lawson, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. "They don't talk to us, they're not community minded."

One of Lanier's plans, the Safe Homes initiative, has yet to get off the ground because of a community backlash. The plan, announced by Lanier and Fenty at a news conference in March, called for police to go door-to-door in crime-ridden areas and ask residents whether they could go inside and search for guns. Residents and some council members voiced concerns that homeowners would feel intimidated by police. Lanier backed off, but said she plans to move forward soon by having residents call police to set up appointments.

Another plan, to arm hundreds of patrol officers with semiautomatic rifles, starting this summer, also got mixed reviews from residents.

Kristopher Baumann, head of the D.C. police lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he was concerned about public perception of the checkpoints and the potential that it could lead to more citizen complaints. He questioned Lanier's overall approach, saying, "There is no strategy and no mid-term and long-term planning.

"That's the biggest disappointment of Chief Lanier's tenure," Baumann said. "One thing we were excited about and optimistic about was, for once, we'd have strategies to combat crime and not just be reactive. But we haven't seen it. It's been a year and a half."

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who represents Trinidad and other parts of Northeast Washington, said he had informal discussions with Lanier in which she had mentioned the possibility of the checkpoint announced yesterday, but he got little notice before the news conference. Civil liberties are always a concern, said Thomas, who maintained that residents are so concerned about violence that they will be willing to give the latest program a try.

"I think the general consensus is that we have to do something because people live in fear," he said. "What would you rather have?" he asked. "A positive pattern of [police] checking things . . . or these folks who come into the community and wreak havoc?"

----- 30 -----

Ummm... do something? How about shall-issue?
 
Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers' identification and ask whether they have a "legitimate purpose" to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away.
:
Police will search cars if they suspect the presence of guns or drugs, and will arrest people who do not cooperate, under a charge of failure to obey a police officer, officials said.
Click to expand...

Officer: Good evening sir. Your driver's license please. Thank you, Mr. CA. Where are you going tonight.
BillCA: Over to Morse Place.

Officer: Where on Morse, sir? What address.
BillCA: Excuse me? That's a personal question.

Officer: Yes sir. What address and who are you visiting?
BillCA: Officer, do you suspect me of some crime?

Officer: No, we're making sure you have legitimate business here.
BillCA: Well, I do. Am I free to go?

Officer: Just a moment, sir. What address are you heading to?
BillCA: Sorry, I'm not going to disclose that. Am I free to go?

Officer: I need some answers first, sir. Who are you visiting?
BillCA: That's my private business. Am I free to go?

Officer: Are you here to buy drugs? Do you have any weapons?
BillCA: No to both questions. Am I free to go?

Officer: Then why are you here?
BillCA: Huh? I didn't know you had to have guns and drugs to get in here.

Officer: Funny man. If you step out car and let me search the vehicle you can be on your way.
BillCA: I'm confused. Is that a request or an order?

Officer: It is not a request.
BillCA : In that case, I refuse you permission to search and I refuse to waive any of my rights.
Officer: Hey, Dano, book this guy, he's not cooperating.
 
"Lanier backed off, but said she plans to move forward soon by having residents call police to set up appointments."

Lemme see if I've got this straight...

People are going to call in and set up appointments for having the cops come over and search their houses? And the cops think they're going to find illegal stuff during these searches? Or maybe guns that people didn't realize they had?

Oooookay.

Tim
 
DC has been a police state ever since 1976 when they banned firearms. That's the whole point and philosophy of the true anti-gunner.

I'm not surprised by any of this at all.

All of us here knew this type of thing would occur. That's why the 2nd Amendment, and its total philosophy, is so important. The anti-gunners don't like the 2nd Amendment because they favor police states.

Like I said, this is basically just "par for the course" IMHO. The anti-gunners in DC (and everywhere) have no problem with police states. Never have and never will IMHO. That's what they gravitate towards (i.e., it appeals to them).

Hopefully clear thinking people will put the DC authorities in their place because they are really getting out of hand IMHO.
 
DC is outta control right now. Just this past weekend they had 9 murders in less than 48 hours. If they think that locking the city down will work, they are sadly mistaken.
 
4) DC will become a police state (or as close as makes no difference).
Click to expand...

Very close to it now. Signs are up as you enter the city from Virginia warning that ALL Federal law enforcement now has general jurisdiction throughout D.C.

So you're now liable to be stopped in D.C. by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police, Pentagon Police, Capitol Police, Park Police, and etc.
 
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