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kc692 -> RE: Boston cops look to search without warrants (11/17/2007 7:06:47 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: GoddessDustyGold
Agreed. And you know, My dear friend, if this was being approached in another way, I honestly would not have aproblem. For instance, if the police were working together with the local community and offering to "help" upon invitation. They can say they are available to search homes upon request I just don't like the fact that they are inviting themselves, and I especially don't like that there are people who think this is perfectly acceptable. It is the presumption, yet again, that people are too stupid to realize what is good for the, so Nanny will do it for them.
quote:
But Davis said the point of the program, dubbed Safe Homes, is to make streets safer, not to incarcerate people.
"This isn't evidence that we're going to present in a criminal case," said Davis, who met with community leaders yesterday to get feedback on the program. "This is a seizing of a very dangerous object. . . .
"I understand people's concerns about this, but the mothers of the young men who have been arrested with firearms that I've talked to are in a quandary," he said. "They don't know what to do when faced with the problem of dealing with a teenage boy in possession of a firearm. We're giving them an option in that case."
I disagree that they are giving them an option. I see it as deciding that the mothers are not doing anything or are incapable of learning how to handle it, so the police will. Not by offering assistance if requested, or a special community awareness program that is optional, but by stating "we are going to do this to make sure the streets are safer, and you have the right to not let us, but..."
And people allow it to happen, because they have become unable to not depend on the government to take care of everythjng and keep everyone safe.
In St Louis, it appears the program started to fall apart because funding ran out, and the support was waning, especially in view of the fact that police began using their own intelligence, as opposed to offering a "public service" and relying on neighborhood tips. We are very fortunate in this country that we take for granted that they cannot do this without our permission. As long as permission continues to be given, little by little, we are then only one step away from losing the freedom altogether.
It worries Me.
It is not that I disagree with you, Diva, I don't guess there is a lot different in our views. I do also definitely agree that the authorities should offer their help by invitation, but in examination, I suppose that possibility is always there also. If I were to have called the police when my son was at home and told them he had a firearm hidden they would have rushed out. Sometimes the parents don't know though, what their children are doing, and it is an utter shame that we can't trust the authorities to not overstep our liberties, and offer help to those that may not be aware, but instead to possibly bully and badger the parents on a possibly flawed perception.
I guess that I was trying to be optimistic that people would know their rights? That lack of knowledge in and of itself is also a grave travesty, and bespeaks volumes about our nation. There is no way to stop them from trying to investigate, and trying to stop the problem of the guns, but I also know that I would not want to be in the parents' shoes when that knock came on the door. The only partial solution is to get out to the poorer neighborhoods information as to what their rights are, and there is no way to truly accomplish that. I was not meaning to make light of the situation, it is disheartening, but knowlege on the parents' part is a necessity to make it stop.
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