Police secretly watching hip-hop celebrities in South Florida

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Tue, Mar. 09, 2004

Police secretly watching hip-hop celebrities in South Florida

Associated Press


MIAMI - Police say they are secretly monitoring hip-hop stars P. Diddy, DMX and others in South Florida to protect them, but celebrities and critics see the surveillance as unnecessary and racist.

Officers in Miami and Miami Beach have photographed rappers and their entourages at Miami International Airport and staked out hotels, video shoots and nightclubs while consulting 6-inch-thick dossiers of rappers and associates with arrest records in New York state, The Miami Herald reported.

"We have to keep an eye on these rivalries," said Assistant Miami Beach Police Chief Charles Press. "The last thing we need in this city is violence."

Some experts believe the sweeping surveillance of a genre of musicians is unprecedented.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8143522.htm

[mikehiggins]

1. Maybe it is racism but I'll bet a lot of Tupac's fans would have

appreciated something like this happening years ago.

[Tim4319]

2. Now, if the police departments use this energy in all areas...

this would be a much safer country.

[AP]

3. I wish Rush Limbaugh and that Bush daughter had been hip-hop stars.

[xchrom]

4. is there any place

where the police might watch certain c&w stars?

[MongoLikeCandy]

5. Nelly was thrown out of a mall two years ago

in St. Louis, his hometown. The mall owners said he was dressed in gang regalia. This is clearly racism.