41–50 of 238 posts
> “bomb,” “terrorist,” “explosion,” “attack,” “battle,” “kill,” “to target,” “to kidnap,” and “to wound.”
...are not going to arouse suspicion, especially among low-paid staff with little training.
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/george-v-reh...
"Five years ago, the Philadelphia police thought that carrying Arabic-language flashcards was enough to warrant the arrest of an innocent traveler." From a norwegian standpoint, where police are not allowed to wear guns, it's fascinating to see how the answer to security problems is more police, harder prison sentences and more violence. What about increasing happiness? In northern Ireland they eventually got rid of…
Americans are, in general, I think (please note this is my opinion and do not down vote me for making this observation) more likely to support solutions that appear to resolve the given issue in the most intuitive and seemingly fastest way. While the intention may be good, this rather simplistic view contradicts the reality that subtler, research-based and longer-view solutions are often the wiser choice. Examples of this include things like research into prison sentences and conditions and their relation to recidivism rates; or ideas about parental leave being better for businesses in the long term, despite the short term loss of productivity.
In this particular case, it is an issue of very short-term thinking from the police who do not realize that their draconian tactics, which seemingly are for the best interest of security today, are in fact more likely to engender civil unrest (or emigration, in my case, since I have no appetite for that) in the long run.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Serious cases starts somewhere around 2 months. Around that time permanent damage starts to pile up. I am not sure what exact laws are in US. But in most countries police has right to detain people up to 24 hours without a warrant. I think in that case it was 'illegal' because police officer forgot some paperwork or said something explicit on record. Easy shot for ACLU.
The issue is that when you give the police an inch, they beat you to within that inch of your life. The system in place in most countries sounds horrifying when put into the context of the American policing system.
This case does not really solve anything. With more similar cases, parliament just passes new law: Airport has special security rule, is not US soil until you pass some checkpoint whatever.
Real solution is to go after causes where it really hurts. This guy got $5.000/hour. Now imagine someone who spend 7 months in jail at this rate.
Haha, this was a friend of mine! According to his retellings, the day also included: * Being asked if he was a communist * Asking one police officer why he was being detained, and being answered "I don't know, what'd you do?"
1. Plaintiff received $25K (directed to ACLU legal and subject to tax)
2. Philadelphia PD must communicate the following for a period of months:
"Investigative detentions may be made only on reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct and any arrest must be based on probable cause. A referral by TSA agents is not grounds for arrest unless an officer makes a judgment ofprobable cause; similarly, referral by TSA agents is not grounds for detention unless an officer makes a judgment that there is reasonable suspicion ofcriminal conduct. Any detentions or arrests should be documented on appropriate police paperwork consistent with PPD Directives."
3. No admission of wrong doing or error on anyone's behalf
Don't talk about bombs in an airport. While the reaction from security staff is stupid you have to be a fucking idiot to think that hand-written flashcards with words like... > “bomb,” “terrorist,” “explosion,” “attack,” “battle,” “kill,” “to target,” “to kidnap,” and “to wound.” ...are not going to arouse suspicion, especially among low-paid staff with little training. https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets…
Everything else aside, how are we to expect them to behave accordingly and justly if we do not punish/reprimand them for doing the opposite?
I'm a bit worried about my trip to the US in the spring. I'm going to make a point of having a hair cut, not carrying any suspicious books, cultivate a super submissive nature against authority figures (of which I carry a well-deserved suspicion) and practive my TSA-smile. Shouldn't have to be that way, but I really don't want to give any indication I am anything but White Bread.
The truth is that millions of people a year travel, and don't have any problems. So you're most likely to be OK. The worrying part is that you don't know what will be "alerted" on. Flash cards? Pictures of your kids in the bath? You have no idea.
He's not worried about being one of those that won't have any problems.
He's worried about becoming one of those that did and that chance is way too high.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is America (and specifically Philadelphia where the police is especially corrupt). The goal of police is not to stop terrorism or crime but simply to fill up the jails and create profit for themselves and others by reaching or passing their quotas and making high-profile arrests. And sometimes, ad demonstrated by recent NYPD events, they don't even do their jobs and still get paid. Crime prevention and offender…
This is a bit of the stretch. Philadelphia is a complex city with complex problems and its police department reflects this. It has plenty of problems but it also has a lot of cops who care.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would argue there are other causes, more worthy money and effort. Serious question: How many hours does a person have to be detained illegally in the United States for it to warrant money and effort from the ACLU? You appear to have a specific metric for when injustice warrants response and I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you to task about it.
Serious cases starts somewhere around 2 months. Around that time permanent damage starts to pile up. I am not sure what exact laws are in US. But in most countries police has right to detain people up to 24 hours without a warrant. I think in that case it was 'illegal' because police officer forgot some paperwork or said something explicit on record. Easy shot for ACLU.
Here, being absent from 99.9% of jobs here for 2 months because you're in jail would result in getting fired, which is without doubt "permanent damage".
And once you've been incarcerated here in the US, your chances of getting a job become substantially harder. So this kind of event routinely cause permanent unemployment.
Even worse, 2 months in a US jail and you have a decent chance of getting raped. Is that serious enough for you?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is America (and specifically Philadelphia where the police is especially corrupt). The goal of police is not to stop terrorism or crime but simply to fill up the jails and create profit for themselves and others by reaching or passing their quotas and making high-profile arrests. And sometimes, ad demonstrated by recent NYPD events, they don't even do their jobs and still get paid. Crime prevention and offender…
This is a bit of the stretch. Philadelphia is a complex city with complex problems and its police department reflects this. It has plenty of problems but it also has a lot of cops who care.
Either they are outnumbered enough to not be able to make a difference, or they're in the majority and thus complicit in those immoral acts because they allow the minority (of "bad" cops) to go by unpunished.
Which one is it? Is there something else at play that's preventing the majority (of "good" cops) from fixing the problem?