this could happen in YOUR town too, from today's Cato Daily Dispatch.

alan · December 19, 2002, 11:47 PM

NYPD SEEKING BROADER SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY

"As the nation's largest law enforcement agency--nearly twice the size of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation--the New York City Police Department
could be the biggest Big Brother of all. Yet it faces quite a stumbling
block. A long-standing federal order, imposed after a landmark lawsuit
revealed rampant surveillance abuses of political activists, prevents the
NYPD from spying on whomever it wants.

"Now the NYPD is fighting to gut the order and get its old powers back,
according to The Village Voice (
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0251/lee.php ).

"Police currently cannot investigate people who are exercising their
constitutional rights, no matter how unpopular the cause, unless there is
some indication of a crime. Street protesters are the most obvious
beneficiaries. But also covered are those who pray, attend community
meetings, write editorials, or express their views in almost any other
way.

"The police department insists it needs broader authority to hunt
terrorists, who may masquerade as regular law-abiding folks until the
moment they strike. But if police win this bid, the followers of
'extremist Muslim fundamentalism' they have mentioned won't be the only
ones in their sights. Everyone becomes fair game."

In "Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police
Departments" ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-050es.html ), Diane
Cecilia Weber writes, "What is clear-and disquieting-is that the lines
that have traditionally separated the military mission from the police
mission are getting badly blurred."

bastiat · December 20, 2002, 12:04 AM

Quote:

The police department insists it needs broader authority to hun terrorists, who may masquerade as regular law-abiding folks until the
moment they strike

What's worse is some law-abiding citizens masquarade as law abiding citizens. The nerve!

If Jim March was an activist in NYC, you'd know darn well that they'd have him under surveillence if they had their way.

alan · December 20, 2002, 12:56 AM

Bastiat:

Re the demise of TFL, this and or other discussions will have to be carried on elsewhere, unless TFL undergoes a "rebirth". Might I suggest either of the following. www.gunsnet.net or www.armedcitizen.net.

If this foolishness goes through, NYC will have taken a giant step in the direction of becoming a "Police City", which it might have been closer to than many people realize.

Happy holidays.

kathaksung · December 20, 2002, 08:03 PM

In a report of ACLU published on 11/13, topic "Caught in the backlash", there is such a story.

Charlotte Wu, a 20 years old student of UC Berkley, was visited by 3 policmen of camps about one month after 911 last year. It's about 30 minites after she finished a phone call. In phone call, she instructed her friends how to play an internet game. It's a spy game. Player must put bomb at the foot of wall to break it. Policemen questioned her why she talked about spy and bomb on the phone. At last, she had to go to her friend's place with police to clarify it. Lucky enough, her friend was still playing that spy and bomb game.

Charlotte Wu never talked to policemen for all her 19 years experience. (She was 19 then) She was very scare and wonder how could police know what she said in phone call. Policemen didn't explain.

She may never know her phone is under surveillance if she hadn't talked about spy and bomb.

http://www.aclunc.org/911/backlash/wu.html

December 19, 2002, 11:47 PM	#1
alan Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 1999 Posts: 3,847	this could happen in YOUR town too, from today's Cato Daily Dispatch. NYPD SEEKING BROADER SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY "As the nation's largest law enforcement agency--nearly twice the size of the Federal Bureau of Investigation--the New York City Police Department could be the biggest Big Brother of all. Yet it faces quite a stumbling block. A long-standing federal order, imposed after a landmark lawsuit revealed rampant surveillance abuses of political activists, prevents the NYPD from spying on whomever it wants. "Now the NYPD is fighting to gut the order and get its old powers back, according to The Village Voice ( http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0251/lee.php ). "Police currently cannot investigate people who are exercising their constitutional rights, no matter how unpopular the cause, unless there is some indication of a crime. Street protesters are the most obvious beneficiaries. But also covered are those who pray, attend community meetings, write editorials, or express their views in almost any other way. "The police department insists it needs broader authority to hunt terrorists, who may masquerade as regular law-abiding folks until the moment they strike. But if police win this bid, the followers of 'extremist Muslim fundamentalism' they have mentioned won't be the only ones in their sights. Everyone becomes fair game." In "Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments" ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-050es.html ), Diane Cecilia Weber writes, "What is clear-and disquieting-is that the lines that have traditionally separated the military mission from the police mission are getting badly blurred."

December 20, 2002, 08:03 PM	#4
kathaksung Junior member Join Date: September 28, 2002 Location: san jose, ca. Posts: 55	How could they know her phone call? In a report of ACLU published on 11/13, topic "Caught in the backlash", there is such a story. Charlotte Wu, a 20 years old student of UC Berkley, was visited by 3 policmen of camps about one month after 911 last year. It's about 30 minites after she finished a phone call. In phone call, she instructed her friends how to play an internet game. It's a spy game. Player must put bomb at the foot of wall to break it. Policemen questioned her why she talked about spy and bomb on the phone. At last, she had to go to her friend's place with police to clarify it. Lucky enough, her friend was still playing that spy and bomb game. Charlotte Wu never talked to policemen for all her 19 years experience. (She was 19 then) She was very scare and wonder how could police know what she said in phone call. Policemen didn't explain. She may never know her phone is under surveillance if she hadn't talked about spy and bomb. http://www.aclunc.org/911/backlash/wu.html

December 20, 2002, 12:56 AM	#3
alan Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 1999 Posts: 3,847	Bastiat: Re the demise of TFL, this and or other discussions will have to be carried on elsewhere, unless TFL undergoes a "rebirth". Might I suggest either of the following. www.gunsnet.net or www.armedcitizen.net. If this foolishness goes through, NYC will have taken a giant step in the direction of becoming a "Police City", which it might have been closer to than many people realize. Happy holidays.