MassPriavateIIn Chicago and Indiana the contentious police-state tactic of officers stopping random pedestrians for warrantless pat downs is no longer a concern just for residents of New York City. The practice, it seems, is spreading to police departments throughout the Nation.
“With the new Region STOP Team, no bust – or suspicious glance – is too small. Because you never know what crime you could be preventing or what wanted person you might find,” the news report says.
Roving teams of police are going town to town using a controversial policing tactic that was once limited to tyranny centers like New York City. The teams are stopping people for any menial reason, and “fishing” for criminals. Often people are stopped for giving a “suspicious” look or walking in an area where previous crimes have occurred.
It started with just a look. A “funny,” quick glance the driver gave to Gary police Officer Don Briggs. But it was enough.
As Briggs went to pull him over Tuesday night, the driver tossed his wallet out of his window and under Briggs’ squad. It turns out, the man was wanted on a warrant for escaping a work-release program in Hendricks County, Ind., Briggs said.
With the new Region STOP Team, no bust — or suspicious glance — is too small. Because you never know what crime you could be preventing or what wanted person you might find.
“I’m a big proponent of car stops,” East Chicago Police Chief Mark Becker said, as he steered his squad through Gary’s Glen Park and Tolleston neighborhoods Tuesday.’
Becker, a retired FBI agent who led the Gang Response Investigative Team for 11 years, launched his first Stop Team while chief in Portage, then began one earlier this year in East Chicago
Becker was joined by 11 other officers, split among the Steel City’s hottest spots. By night’s end, the group had stopped several cars and arrested at least four people.
“Caught a guy two nights ago, an escapee from the department of corrections just walking down the street. We’ve arrested a guy for attempted murder,” said Becker.
The STOP Team has been taking Becker’s logic to the streets in Gary and East Chicago in recent weeks. The mindset: Crime crosses city borders, and so should the officers charged with addressing it.
All it took for another bust was spotting a man ambling away from a gas station known for criminal activity.
Officers leaned the man against the SUV of Lake County Deputy Police Chief Dan Murchek, searching his pockets and white sneakers.
After running the man’s name, they discovered he had a warrant for littering.
http://www.nwitimes.com/digital/video/region-stop-team/youtube_888778a1-963f-57d8-9e27-7dd12e16d7fb.html
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/22228721-537/area-police-agencies-team-up-for-high-intensity-patrols.html
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/stop-team-anti-crime-approach-like-fishing/article_99424026-0107-5810-819c-c28ceb466936.html
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/09/04/nw-indiana-launch-special-police-team/
http://lakeshorepublicmedia.org/78255/
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http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2013/09/indiana-and-chicago-police-stop-drivers.html
I think I’d classify what the police are doing as profiling and harrassment. I guess wearing sun glasses is out of the question?
. . .
Hahaha! Yea I know. You’d think that, since that would impair their vision of being able to see your eyes looking at them. And the cops would say, “normal people shouldn’t be allowed to wear sunglasses like us because they aren’t as cool and dastardly as we are”. Yep, that would be their child-like mentality and excuse for confiscation of sunglasses.
How much you want to make a bet that none of these stops or incidents actually happened or were orchestrated and role-played for this very purpose?
What a joke. Problem-Reaction-Solution technique in full effect here.
They should also arrest people who have web sites or make comments online that are critical of police.