DC has lost their friggin minds

[dunndw]

WASHINGTON - D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.

Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.†At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason†to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.

Lanier has been struggling to reverse D.C.’s spiraling crime rate but has been forced by public outcry to scale back several initiatives including her “All Hands on Deck†weekends and plans for warrantless, door-to-door searches for drugs and guns.

Under today’s proposal, the no-go zones will last up to 10 days, according to internal police documents. Front-line officers are already being signed up for training on running the blue curtains.

Peter Nickles, the city’s interim attorney general, said the quarantine would have “a narrow focus.â€

“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,†Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.â€

Others are. Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the D.C. police union and a former lawyer, called the checkpoint proposal “breathtaking.â€

Shelley Broderick, president of the D.C.-area American Civil Liberties Union and the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, said the plan was “cockamamie.â€

“I think they tried this in Russia and it failed,†she said. “It’s just our experience in this city that we always end up targeting poor people and people of color, and we treat the kids coming home from choir practice the same as we treat those kids who are selling drugs.â€

The proposal has the provisional support of D.C. Councilman Harry “Tommy†Thomas, D-Ward 5, whose ward has become a war zone.

“They’re really going to crack down on what we believe to be a systemic problem with open-air drug markets,†Thomas told The Examiner.

Thomas said, though, that he worried about D.C. “moving towards a police state.â€

[Guest db99wj]

Well at least gun control is working there! Oh, right.

[Guest nj.piney]

moving towards a police state? they are way past that point.

[dariks]

“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,†Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.â€

I call bovine scatology on this. Exactly what city in the United States has used this program before?

[Guest grimel]

Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.â€

At least he's honest about it.

[Punisher84]

Wow. Yea because that will work. Hand me my brick wall icon, forthwith!

[Guest kwikrnu]

I call bovine scatology on this. Exactly what city in the United States has used this program before?

New Orleans?

[Guest bkelm18]

New Orleans?

No, they disarmed law abiding citizens leaving them completely defenseless in New Orleans during a SHTF situation where the only control the government had was to send in the military to police its own citizens. DC just wants to become a police state to reduce crime, which, obviously, will fail miserably.

[mdlave]

Of course I have my papers in order, sir.

[Guest bkelm18]

I am wondering exactly what constitutes a "not good enough" reason to be somewhere where you are legally allowed to be?

[towerclimber37]

I guess it's what ever the law enforcement officers want it to be...you're going home? where exactly is home? you LOOK shady, so we'll just search your house....

what? we don't need no stinkin warrant! we don't care about the constitution ...it don't apply here washington cause WE run this town!

these are the same people that refuse to allow law abiding citizens to carry firearms because, well, guns are bad! only police officers should have guns! You can't have them..you'll hurt yourself or go crazy and kill someone else!!

*sigh* I'm waiting for folks to go into full rebellion mode there...if they don't they've got less guts than I give them credit for.

[Guest bkelm18]

I guess it's what ever the law enforcement officers want it to be...you're going home? where exactly is home? you LOOK shady, so we'll just search your house....

what? we don't need no stinkin warrant! we don't care about the constitution ...it don't apply here washington cause WE run this town!

these are the same people that refuse to allow law abiding citizens to carry firearms because, well, guns are bad! only police officers should have guns! You can't have them..you'll hurt yourself or go crazy and kill someone else!!

*sigh* I'm waiting for folks to go into full rebellion mode there...if they don't they've got less guts than I give them credit for.

Yeah I can't wait for those DC folks to take up arms and... oh... wait... d*mn... guess they thought of that too... hmm. Well they're f*cked I guess.

[towerclimber37]

Yeah I can't wait for those DC folks to take up arms and... oh... wait... d*mn... guess they thought of that too... hmm. Well they're f*cked I guess.

hah! I don't think they'll take up arms, but I am willing to bet that they'll riot..destroy a bunch of stuff and then the national guard will be called in..

The NEXT step happens when those same folks who were rioting decide to get the firearms they didn't tell anyone about, or had at home "disassembled", and then they start putting paid to government control...or at least the police officers.

then again...perhaps they wont.

I'm with you..they're screwed!!! LOL!

[mdlave]

I wonder if this will shake out to a specific curfew for nonresidents. The only reason I'd have for going into DC is sightseeing or visiting friends. I actually will be there in a few weeks, hopefully I can beat this new "crackdown". Between visiting folks and all the sightseeing, it seems they would have to attach a time of night to it.

[Guest bkelm18]

hah! I don't think they'll take up arms, but I am willing to bet that they'll riot..destroy a bunch of stuff and then the national guard will be called in..

The NEXT step happens when those same folks who were rioting decide to get the firearms they didn't tell anyone about, or had at home "disassembled", and then they start putting paid to government control...or at least the police officers.

then again...perhaps they wont.

I'm with you..they're screwed!!! LOL!

Maybe. I doubt they'd do anything. Unfortunately, as I see it, Americans in general just don't have much fight left in them. I'm sure someone will disagree, but thats just how I see it.

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

What's to stop them from making an argument defending this action under Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz? Another case of suspicionless, warrantless seizure, on public property for "public safety".

[Guest mikedwood]

Is this a joke? I.... I.... I don't know what to say. I want to say something but I don't know what that would be other than sad.....

I have been to DC and NYC both once and there are areas that look like Beruit did in the 80's or a similar place perhaps worse. Slightly below animals. I have heard Chicago is about the same.

[towerclimber37]

Hillbilly, I don't know what that ruling was on that case, but I know common sense when I see it...and that ain't it. that is NOT freedom!!!

that's not even close to the constitution, NOT far off from tyranny.

I say we let em fight it out! naked aggression has solved more problems than any other form of contest, that I know of. if you JUST can't come to some sort of agreement.....I guess it's time to cut heads....

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

Hillbilly, I don't know what that ruling was on that case, but I know common sense when I see it...and that ain't it. that is NOT freedom!!!

that's not even close to the constitution, NOT far off from tyranny.

I say we let em fight it out! naked aggression has solved more problems than any other form of contest, that I know of. if you JUST can't come to some sort of agreement.....I guess it's time to cut heads....

I don't agree with the decision in Sitz. That was the SCOTUS decision that allows DUI dragnet roadblocks.

I also don't approve of this proposal in DC. I only asked the question to provoke thought regarding the proverbial slippery slope. What will the roadblock decision, and the particulars of the majority opinion, eventually bring about?

[towerclimber37]

I don't agree with the decision in Sitz. That was the SCOTUS decision that allows DUI dragnet roadblocks.

I also don't approve of this proposal in DC. I only asked the question to provoke thought regarding the proverbial slippery slope. What will the roadblock decision, and the particulars of the majority opinion, eventually bring about?

a few less stupid judges?

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

a few less stupid judges?

Well, Rehnquist is dead, but I'm afraid there's a long line of his contemporaries waiting in the wing.

[towerclimber37]

Well, Rehnquist is dead, but I'm afraid there's a long line of his contemporaries waiting in the wing.

as long as they're in a straight line....this gives me a good idea!

[NuTcAsE]

"DC has lost their friggin minds"

Can't lose something that wasn't never there......

[BimmerFreak]

Well at least gun control is working there! Oh, right.

+1

You beat me to it.

[Guest jackdog]

and this from the area that is the seat of our government.. Tower we have the same thoughts when it comes to the judges in a straight line.