Police & DHS consider stretching during a jog to be a “suspicious activity”

MassPrivateI

The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (NSI) kind of speaks for itself. It is an effort by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Justice and other agencies to promote civic counter-terror engagement. To do this, the federal agencies enlist the help of state, local and tribal police departments, as well as private security firms, in collecting Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by citizens and officers. Federally funded publicity campaigns like “If You See Something, Say Something” are made available for local adoption—provided regional law enforcement officials share what intelligence they gather.   

And that’s where the ACLU’s legal concerns begin to surface. When SARs get filed in federal counterterrorism databases, like the FBI’s standardized eGuardian system, they can remain there for up to 30 years—even if said suspicious activity is lawful.  

The ACLU and others have fileda lawsuit challenging that apparatus.  The plaintiffs argue that the NSI lowers federal standards for information that can be stored on people. Department of Justice privacy regulations allow intelligence to be saved ” only if there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in criminal  conduct or activity and the information is relevant to that criminal  conduct or activity.” 

The NSI lowers that standard to “suspicious activity,”  defined as “behavior reasonably indicative of preoperational planning related to terrorism or other criminal activity.” Note how terrorism is defined as a type of criminal activity. The plaintiffs point out that this definition encompasses constitutionally protected activities, like taking photos, buying computers or standing in a train station. “Reasonably indicative” of terrorism paints with a broad brush. 

In Los Angeles, suspicious activity includes “joggers who stand and stretch for an inordinate amount of time” while in Kentucky “people avoiding eye contact” are suspect. 

The bottom line in the ACLU’s case is that SARs filed on the plaintiffs have been stored in counterterrorism databases, despite any proof of criminal wrongdoing. And though the storing of digital surveillance might be old news at this point, the newfound weight given to eyewitness surveillance is another beast entirely.  

For one, it is now much easier for private security guards and citizens—people with no law-enforcement authority—to file reports that may stain people’s record for decades. 

The private sector has also proven a strong ally to the expansion of eyewitness surveillance in the United States. Walmart, Mall of America, Amtrak, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and many sports arenas now participate in “If You See Something, Say Something” and the umbrella NSI. As Bill Whitmore, Chairman & CEO of AlliedBarton Security Services, writes in the Huffington Post, “Every corporate citizen plays a role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats.” 

If you go to Mall of America “ you may be subject to a security interview.” And though the U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ rights from intrusion by public law enforcement, those same protections do not guard us from private entities. Rent-a-cops don’t have the authority that police do, and we don’t have the same legal protections from them as we do from public police. But now Mall of America security guards can file SARs that are shared with local and federal authorities. Does this bear any significance for the powers of private security in the United States? It isn’t yet clear.  
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/stretching-during-jog-suspicious-activity-americas-counterrorism-efforts-out-control

Platform For Prejudice: How the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative invites racial profiling, erodes civil liberties & undermines security

http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2014/08/police-dhs-consider-stretching-during.html