Big Brother is watching you

[BushOut06]

Police encourage local citizens to spy on each other. Unfrigginbelievable.

http://drudgereport.com/flash5sp.htm

POLICE CALL ON CITIZENS TO WATCH SPY CAMS; REPORT WRONGDOING
Wed Mar 15 2006 08:47:21 ET

The East Orange, NJ Police Department is getting ready to greatly enlarge its ranks, with what's being called the "Virtual Community Patrol."

Soon-to-be-chosen residents will get access to a a Web site that provides panoramic views of their block, allows them to type in general complaints, pinpoint a problem location, immediately send that information to police headquarters, and simultaneously activate hidden police surveillance cameras, Police Director Jose Cordero said.

The "Virtual Community Patrol" will be the first such project of its kind in the nation, reports the STAR-LEDGER.

For example, an individual might see suspicious drug activity around a parked car, get on the Internet, type in a brief description of what's happening, use a cursor to pinpoint the trouble spot on one of six neighborhood still pictures that pop up, then transmit that information to the police command communications center, he said.

Developing...

[harpo]

1. FU big brother

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Velcome to the SS Comrad!

ere is your vittle tin badge and uniform. Der Ferur thanks you vor your Patriotism.

[acmejack]

3. This could be a really bad idea

I can easily see a day with reprisals against suspected "collaborators". I seem to remember a historical pattern of those individuals being singled out for some pretty harsh treatment. The populace always has some way of identifying the citizens who opt to cooperate with the authorities in these projects.

[mmonk]

4. I've been a victim of this.

At least they said they had a camera used by a citizen. It started by my helping a former employee by lending him money temporarily. Since I could not meet him as I work and he was trying to get a job but had immediate bills, I left him some cash under a rock. Later, he picked it up. The rock was on a commercial lot beside businesses but accross the street from residential. The police showed up at my house, accused me of a drug buy and being addicted to narcotics (in front of my family). I told them what I did and they said I was lying and they were going to arrest me and said I wasn't co-operating. They took me to their squad car and said they had the tape there. When I went to see the so called tape however, they couldn't produce it. They continued to forceably call me a liar in front of my wife and son and saying to my wife I was a drug addict. They searched my car and said they would get a warrant and search my house. I'll never view the police the same again nor will I ever tell them anything. Why say anything if they call you a liar (especially if they have no evidence as to the contrary)?

[BlackHeart]

10. Alrighty then...

Leaving money under rocks in public locations? Did you tell them the name of the person you were leaving the money for?

[mmonk]

11. Yes I did.

[mmonk]

14. The problem is not wondering what was going on.

It's not accepting the truth when told and threatening citizens that have no record of any type or not just checking up on the story. It's people not asking what I was doing. It's acting on assumption and taking no other explanation. While neighborhood watches or neighborhood patrols by the police are good, this neighbors using cameras can be abused potentially. It doesn't just apply to leaving something for someone under a rock.

[BlackHeart]

15. You don't see what you did as...

...suspicious activity? And do you really expect the police to believe you, just because you know that you are an honest individual? Believe it or not people lie to the police on a regular basis. I too would have been upset if the police accused me of a crime that I didn't commit, especially in front of my family, but the police have a job. A tough job.

[BushOut06]

16. What crime was committed?

There wasn't even a crime that was committed in his case! Since when is it against the law to leave money in a public place? Sure, it might be foolish, especially if you're in a drug-ridden area. And anyone could have found the money. But a crime?

That's exactly why this is a bad idea, because people with very little or no training at all will be making judgement calls. Next thing you know, you're being hauled out of your house in front of your family, roughed up, your house torn apart, etc.

[mmonk]

17. Somebody photographing someone

without their knowledge on someone's unsubstantiated suspicion and pretending its some sort of evidence of a crime without checking it out seems a liitle too much. This could be someone photographing a neighbor putting something at the end of their backyard or leaving something at a mailbox for someone to pick up or leaving a key for someone cleaning a house. It certainly IS NO LICENSE to be harassed at one's home, called a liar, and being threatened or trying to induce a negative reaction or confrontation. Let it happen to you and you will get the idea.

[global1]

18. The New Voyeurism......n/t

[mmonk]

19. They don't have to believe me.

However, they had no evidence to call me a liar or no reason not to check the story out. There was no excuse to treat me as a criminal because I was not caught in the commission of any crime. Calling someone a liar and saying I wasn't co-operating when giving answers to questions and that I am a drug addict is not proper behavior in my opinion. It was pure garbage.

[BlackHeart]

22. Ok

I agree they shouldn't have called you a liar, unless they had proof. That would be different from not believing you and continuing to investigate.

[mmonk]

24. I'll admit it was a lack of judgement on my part.

It was the former employee's idea to leave it there because he had a part time job at night and I worked during the day and couldn't meet him to give it to him. Anyway, I certainly won't lend money out anymore. It's funny because I know someone on the force, a childhood friend of mine is with the sheriff's office, and my brother-in law is a former federal prosecutor. So I come to the situation as a citizen with no arrest record nor any animousity to law enforcement. I will not step out of my doorway in the future if an officer comes to my house wanting to ask questions about anything. I will ask what do you want? If it involves me or my family in the least little way, I will say not without an attorney present. You might say I'm a changed person as far as any trust goes.

[BlackHeart]

25. I can understand that

you would have a distrust of police now but I see no reason for you stop loaning money when appropriate. Maybe just not under rocks anymore.:-)

[mmonk]

26. Yeah,

no rocks.;-)

[LisaLynne]

5. Wow.

And I've been seeing a lot more "citizen volunteer" police cars around. :wtf:

[BlackHeart]

6. I must be missing something

If I don't want drug dealers working in my neighborhood what should I do?

[BushOut06]

8. It's the whole mentality of the thing

If you see someone breaking the law, then by all means you have every right to call the police. But this is going one step further, encouraging citizens - who have no training - to basically spy on each other. There's all sorts of potential for misuse here.

[mmonk]

9. See my post.

[Catrina]

23. In a democracy you would have trained police (we pay taxes for this don't

we?) working on all crime in your neighborhood. If there aren't enough police, you would hire and train more.

Handing out badges to untrained people is asking for trouble ~ eg, I know someone who has a mental illness, (diagnosed). He would be the first to sign up for something like this and has no judgement at all when it comes to what he thinks is a violation of the law. He's all for law and order, mainly because it makes him feel secure.

I can't count the number of times he has called the police to report people for what he thought were incidents that needed police intervention. He is not malicious, just incapable of exercising any judgement. He would join this program thinking he is serving his country somehow and helping to 'catch the bad guys'.

How many busy, regular people are going to get involved in this program? It's a disaster to think that not only has this country come to this, but that there are people who support it and don't demand that their tax dollars be spent on what they are supposed to be spent for.

What an excellent opportunity for neighbors to get revenge on neighbors they've had a dispute with, or with an ex-husband or wife or the boyfriend of an ex-wife etc. etc. Or one of those treasonous liberals who don't support the great leader!!

But I'm being paranoid, this is America and we Americans would never have to worry about anyone abusing such a position ~ :sarcasm:

I wonder how long it will be before we start hearing about the abuses ~ as if there aren't enough already. This is Bush's dream. They tried to get this passed several years ago, citizens spying on citizens, using fear as the motivation for it. Truck drivers and cable guys were to be 'deputized'. As I recall, to their credit, truck drivers refused to get involved and the program was supposedly cancelled for lack of support in Congress.

I hope you are on good terms with everyone you ever met ~ and that you support the current regime ~ there's been a lot of indoctrination going on as to who might be considered a traitor in this country ~ and spies are already watching those who disagree with the policies of this adminitration ~

[High Plains]

27. Get the drug dealers off the street!

and into regulated commercial establishments.

[WinkyDink]

28. Call the police? Instead of playing Spy vs. Spy??

Just a thought.

[gilpo]

7. Kind of reminds me of the end of Fahrenheit 451

How are they going to choose the special rezidents?

[NewWaveChick1981]

12. And the VCP could be used to file false reports in

hopes of getting someone in deep shit when they are totally innocent. There are some mentally ill people (and even some who aren't but are just spiteful) who would take full advantage of this. Welcome to W's Amurika...

[hexola]

13. Little Brother is watching back...

[InternalDialogue]

20. 2006 is the new 1984

When people withdraw from their communities behind their curtains instead of physically, actively, visibly take part and keep them healthy, we lose those communities. Same thing with constitutional rights. Exercise them in public or you'll mourn them in private.


http://www.twoguysproductions.com

[mtnester]

21. Heil!

You WILL pry my gun out of my cold dead hands kiddies.

I trust NO ONE right now. ANd I HATE being that way.

[WinkyDink]

29. THE point: Trust NO ONE, but the cult leader. Fascism's #1 rule.

Destroy inter-personal, inter-community bonds. Corrupt all media with money, embedding, and access to power. Catapult the propaganda. Label opponents "terrorists" and "traitors".

Only Dubya will be left to tell us the "Truth".

[Jara sang]

30. Sounds like the Stasi

The Stasi's influence over almost every aspect of life in the German Democratic Republic cannot be overestimated. Until the mid-1980s, a civilian network of informants called Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (IMs, unofficial collaborator) grew within both Germanies, East and West. By the East German collapse in 1989, it is estimated that the Stasi had 91,000 full time employees and 300,000 informants. This means approximately one in fifty East Germans collaborated with the Stasi, one of the highest penetrations of any society by an intelligence gathering organization.

The Stasi monitored politically incorrect behavior among all citizens of East Germany. During the 1989 peaceful revolution, the Stasi offices were overrun by enraged citizens, but not before a huge amount of compromising material was destroyed by Stasi officers (See above). The remaining files are available for review to all people who were reported upon, often revealing that friends, colleagues, husbands, wives, and other family members were regularly filing reports with the Stasi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi