July 20, 2005
Metro Searches
It seems Dee Cee is mulling the institution of random bag searches on the Metro. Frankly, I think this is not a good idea.
If Metro police start conducting true random searches - frisking little old ladies and children, for example, it would simply be a waste of scarce resources that would do nothing except promote the false image that they are Doing Something.
If, on the other hand, Metro tries to use the cover of "random" searches in order to concentrate on more likely specific target groups, the ACLU will be all over them like a wet blanket for profiling.
Either way, I don't think it's worth the effort. Better to beef up "for cause" monitoring.
Posted by Robert at July 20, 2005 11:54 AM | TrackBack" the ACLU will be all over them like a wet blanket for profiling"
Interesting way to say "massive abuse of civil rights".
:P
Posted by: LB buddy at July 20, 2005 12:41 PMActually, I'm not arguing the merits one way or the other. I'm simply saying that with limited resources at hand, a course of action that will result in a guaranteed legal challenge that Metro would probably lose anyway is not wise.
Posted by: Robert the LB at July 20, 2005 12:45 PMSurveillance cameras at the stations make sense. Not that they'll stop many crimes, but they'll help in the aftermath. There's no easy solution, really.
Posted by: jen at July 20, 2005 12:49 PM"massive abuse of civil rights"? We don't even know what civil rights are anymore. We only know what the Anti-Christian Liberals Union says they are.
Search everyone or profile. Look at the statistics, predict who is most likely to attack, and deal with the situation. Or just ignore everything in the interest of personal "privacy" and endanger everyone.
Posted by: Cap'n Wolff Larsen at July 20, 2005 02:18 PM
