Klarinet Archive - Posting 000018.txt from 2002/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] constitution (was Music vs. drug testing)
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 08:28:29 -0400

At 11:13 PM 6/30/2002 -0400, Jeremy A Schiffer wrote:
>On Sun, 30 Jun 2002, Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
> > I sincerely doubt that police departments make a routine practice of
> > searching people on the street for no reason. If nothing else, they simply
> > do not have the time. On those rare occasions when they may mistakenly
> > stop an innocent person, the process can be expedited considerably by
> > cooperation, and turned into a long and arduous process by making a
> > "federal case" out of it. When they find nothing, sue them for harassment
> > or false arrest later.
>
>ummm... you haven't been to a big city in the last decade, have you? new
>york and los angeles had entire divisions within their police departments
>dedicated to searching people for no legitimate reason. remember amadou
>diallo, or patrick dorismond? they were shot dead by members of the
>"street crime unit" of the nypd during the guiliani years. these units
>worked by having undercover officers harass people (minorities) standing
>on the streets until they (the minorities) agreed to find someone who
>could sell the undercover officers drugs.
>
>i live right on the border of harlem, and see cops harass and search
>(sorry, "stop and frisk" in cop lingo) minorities all the time (though
>not nearly as much under bloomberg), just for sitting out on their stoops.

You are right. I have not been in a large city. I also suspect that the
above scenario, described by someone on the police force, would sound
completely different. As you describe it, however, it does not sound
proper. But perhaps you are not aware of the criminal history of the
people they are stopping, and they are. They may very well HAVE probable
cause.

Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.net
451 Old Orchard Drive
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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