We all know that Mayor Nutter's new police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, came her from Washington with a tough on crime approach that sometimes ran afoul of civil libertarians down there. Well, check out what his old hometown is up to now:
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area.
Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers' identification and ask whether they have a "legitimate purpose" to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away.
The Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative is the latest crime-fighting attempt by Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who have been under pressure from residents to stop a recent surge in violence. Last weekend was especially bloody, with seven slayings, including three in the Trinidad area.
"In certain areas, we need to go beyond the normal methods of policing," Fenty (D) said at a news conference announcing the action. "We're going to go into an area and completely shut it down to prevent shootings and the sale of drugs.
I'd be interested in hearing what Nutter and Ramsey think of this. Seems to me that there's a line between flooding the zone with cops -- a good idea -- and stopping every citizen, which not only goes a little too far but, since it only applies to motorists and not pedestrians, may not even be effective.
The Washington ACLU is not impressed:
"My reaction is, welcome to Baghdad, D.C.," said Arthur Spitzer, legal director for the ACLU's Washington office. "I mean, this is craziness. In this country, you don't have to show identification or explain to the police why you want to travel down a public street."
You know, I love the ACLU, but let's be reasonable here. While this proposal is completely misguided, the idea that it would turn DC into Baghdad is an utter joke, and it trivializes the war and the sacrifice our armed forces are making.— Politburo- Baghdad DC is a stretch, but I am disappointed that Bunch did not link to Sen Obama's position paper on this issue. I am sure he would have something to say about. Maybe something like "we can all come together".— shoeshineboy
Comment removed.- I'm not seeing "we can all come together".. maybe you can find it? http://www.barackobama.com/issues/urbanpolicy/#crime-and-law-enforcement— Politburo
- Comment removed.
- Perhaps one of the real "journalists" has the diaper-changing responsibility as "other duties as assinged"— shoeshineboy
- That's quite a large presumption, being that it's based on four words from a webpage. Somehow I doubt "Support Local Law Enforcement" means that unconstitutional actions would be supported (Note: I am not specifically referring to the DC program).— Politburo
- Wait a minute, I thought guns were banned in DC, how can they have all these shootings?— pbr
- Comment removed.
- The source of the link is completely irrelevant, and it was originally provided for a completely different reason, not to show that Obama would or would not support this particular police action. You're the one that made the assumption, and you're the one twisting all over the place. Another classic b.at projection. (Next you'll say I'm spewing hate...)— Politburo
- What's next? How soon before we are no different than the old Soviet Union with its internal passports? Of course, it will all seem reasonable. It already seems "reasonable" to people who live in gated communities, and now it seems "reasonable" to get into any area the police so designate. Next it will seem "reasonable" to have an official ID and approved purpose if you want to travel (or live) anywhere near the Mexican border. Or cross state lines. Or cross township lines. Do you have an officially approved reason to go where you want to go? "Just because you want to" doesn't cut it anymore, buddy. After all, we need security above all, and only an evildoer would object to having every movement, every detail, tracked and databased. Sell it the right way and it always seems "reasonable". Let's face it, if this is what we are down to then the battle is lost. Society is beyond protecting. All that is left is 24-hour surveillance. Only the bad guys have any need for privacy, and we always have an unending list of bad guys. Someday you will be on it. Who will be left to stand up for you?— what is truth?
- Hey, if DC can ignore the 2nd Amendment and basically ban private gun ownership, it's just another slide step down the slippery slope to ignoring the 4th.— db_cooper
- "We're going to go into an area and completely shut it down to prevent shootings and the sale of drugs." What a joke. They can't even stop the flow of drugs in to prisons. What makes them think they can stop drugs and violence on the streets, no matter how draconian they get? The political and law enforcement establishment, for the most part, refuses to deal with the role that the War on (some) Drugs has in much of the violence we see in this country.— db_cooper
- Comment removed.
- And yet, if Obama's Website didn't say "Support Local Law Enforcement", people would say he is anti-police.— Captain Awesome
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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