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As an attorney, I am under an obligation, enforced by the New York State Rules of Professional Responsibility (the "Rules") to report conduct of attorneys for violate the Rules, and to report non-attorneys engaged in the unautorized practice of law. Turning to terror, airports, train and subway stations are replete with signs that say "if you see something, say something" or words to that effect.
Given the problem of self-radicalization as well as active cooperation with ISIS and other organizations, I had a thought. People should be obligated to reveal to law enforcement suspicious activity they see, either live, on social media or otherwise. While I am not crazy about gun control, sellers of guns and ammunition should be obligated to report large or unusual orders. After Oklahoma City there were calls that purchases by non-farmers of huge quantities of fertilizer should be reported.
It is inconceivable that there wasn't unusual and obvious activity around the apartment of the San Bernardino couple that conducted the slaughter. And a law requiring "ratting" or "snitching" would likely ensnare family members of terrorists and other criminals. If there were such laws people would be rightly worried about their phone or cell numbers appearing on the phones of the criminals. I think it would at least seriously complicate or prevent many incidents.
A lot more effective that trying to employ metal detectors everywhere.
We constantly hear Obama talk about the "if you see something, say something".
The neighbor saw men coming and going from the apartment of Farook. He saw them bring in boxes during visits. He thought it looked "suspicious". When asked why he didn't say anything he said he didn't want to appear to be a racist. Had he spoken up 14 people wouldn't have died and 20 wouldn't have been injured but the double standard PC correctness stopped him.
A teacher reports a boy with a clock that looks like a bomb. The police are called. He's arrested while the clock he claimed he built was inspected. He was invited to the WH and hailed as some kind of Einstein. Now he has a $15 million dollar lawsuit going. What is his claim - that he was discriminated against because he is a Pakistani and the school and police were racists? Loretta Lynch is looking into his arrest. Seems she's more interested in Clockboy being discriminated against, rather than seeing the possibility that he could actually have had a bomb.
People should be obligated to reveal to law enforcement suspicious activity they see, either live, on social media or otherwise.
In theory I'm ok with it. In practice, if such reports were widely encouraged (much less made mandatory), law enforcement would be overwhelmed by the volume. There aren't enough local, state, or federal LE personnel to deal with all the reports.
Not to mention how easy it would be for terrorists, wannabe troublemakers, and hoaxsters to make false reports and overwhelm the system.
In the late 80's, I was doing Provost Marshal work for the Navy......and part of a belly dancing troupe. One of the girls in my class was an immigrant from a Warsaw Pact country and under the information regulations at the time, I was required to report this to my superior security agency which was NIS (as NCIS was at the time).
In my case, I was fortunate that I could report it directly to NIS and have fewer people know I was belly dancing. The head agent came over and conducted an interview. When I noted all this to my belly dancing class mate, .........
........she was shocked. She thought she had left attitudes and practices as such back behind the iron curtain.
So, two things.
First of all, do we really want to be like the old Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact and be making it law to snitch on people? Is this really what America is all about?
Secondly, at the time, I was in Intelligence and one just accepts that there are people looking over your shoulder consistently. But is this the kind of world we want the American people to have to experience, that they are always being watched?
Encourage them through patriotism but don't make it a rule or a law.
We constantly hear Obama talk about the "if you see something, say something".
I haven't heard Obama say that. I've seen that on posters on subways and trains.
Quote:
Originally Posted by triple8s
The neighbor saw men coming and going from the apartment of Farook. He saw them bring in boxes during visits. He thought it looked "suspicious". When asked why he didn't say anything he said he didn't want to appear to be a racist. Had he spoken up 14 people wouldn't have died and 20 wouldn't have been injured but the double standard PC correctness stopped him.
Absolutely correct. I also think race can and should be taken into account for contextual purposes. For example you don't search among the black population for financial frauds; Jews are most common. And for the record I'm Jewish. You don't search among Jews for violent terrorists either. Or for that matter among blacks for violent terrorists. While there may be some among each group it's just not that group's "bag."
Quote:
Originally Posted by triple8s
A teacher reports a boy with a clock that looks like a bomb. The police are called. He's arrested while the clock he claimed he built was inspected. He was invited to the WH and hailed as some kind of Einstein. Now he has a $15 million dollar lawsuit going. What is his claim - that he was discriminated against because he is a Pakistani and the school and police were racists? Loretta Lynch is looking into his arrest. Seems she's more interested in Clockboy being discriminated against, rather than seeing the possibility that he could actually have had a bomb.
And the "little Einstein" has moved to Qatar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by biscuitmom
In theory I'm ok with it. In practice, if such reports were widely encouraged (much less made mandatory), law enforcement would be overwhelmed by the volume. There aren't enough local, state, or federal LE personnel to deal with all the reports.
Not to mention how easy it would be for terrorists, wannabe troublemakers, and hoaxsters to make false reports and overwhelm the system.
I would hope that law enforcement officials would be professional enough to devise a system to filter out the garbage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
First of all, do we really want to be like the old Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact and be making it law to snitch on people? Is this really what America is all about?
Secondly, at the time, I was in Intelligence and one just accepts that there are people looking over your shoulder consistently. But is this the kind of world we want the American people to have to experience, that they are always being watched?
Encourage them through patriotism but don't make it a rule or a law.
The difference is that the belly-dancer would have gotten due process. Someone quickly would have figured out that there was no harmful activity involved. In the former Communist countries a lot of damage would have happened a lot faster.
The neighbor saw men coming and going from the apartment of Farook. He saw them bring in boxes during visits. He thought it looked "suspicious". When asked why he didn't say anything he said he didn't want to appear to be a racist. Had he spoken up 14 people wouldn't have died and 20 wouldn't have been injured but the double standard PC correctness stopped him.
A teacher reports a boy with a clock that looks like a bomb. The police are called. He's arrested while the clock he claimed he built was inspected. He was invited to the WH and hailed as some kind of Einstein. Now he has a $15 million dollar lawsuit going. What is his claim - that he was discriminated against because he is a Pakistani and the school and police were racists? Loretta Lynch is looking into his arrest. Seems she's more interested in Clockboy being discriminated against, rather than seeing the possibility that he could actually have had a bomb.
As an attorney, I am under an obligation, enforced by the New York State Rules of Professional Responsibility (the "Rules") to report conduct of attorneys for violate the Rules, and to report non-attorneys engaged in the unautorized practice of law. Turning to terror, airports, train and subway stations are replete with signs that say "if you see something, say something" or words to that effect.
Given the problem of self-radicalization as well as active cooperation with ISIS and other organizations, I had a thought. People should be obligated to reveal to law enforcement suspicious activity they see, either live, on social media or otherwise. While I am not crazy about gun control, sellers of guns and ammunition should be obligated to report large or unusual orders. After Oklahoma City there were calls that purchases by non-farmers of huge quantities of fertilizer should be reported.
It is inconceivable that there wasn't unusual and obvious activity around the apartment of the San Bernardino couple that conducted the slaughter. And a law requiring "ratting" or "snitching" would likely ensnare family members of terrorists and other criminals. If there were such laws people would be rightly worried about their phone or cell numbers appearing on the phones of the criminals. I think it would at least seriously complicate or prevent many incidents.
A lot more effective that trying to employ metal detectors everywhere.
So, wait, are you saying that a relative of a criminal should be implicated in the crime simply by being a relative?
Are you saying that someone the criminal called--the mere number showing up on his phone--is evidence of implication in his crime?
Are you saying that even being a neighbor of a criminal is evidence of failing to turn in a potential criminal?
I haven't heard Obama say that. I've seen that on posters on subways and trains..
Right after the Boston Marathon bombing: "President Obama said that “we all have a part to play in alerting authorities. If you see something suspicious, speak up.”"
The neighbor saw men coming and going from the apartment of Farook. He saw them bring in boxes during visits. He thought it looked "suspicious". When asked why he didn't say anything he said he didn't want to appear to be a racist. Had he spoken up 14 people wouldn't have died and 20 wouldn't have been injured but the double standard PC correctness stopped him.
There seems to be an assumption here that "he thought it looked 'suspicious'" means that it's suspicious. Whatever those men were bringing in those boxes, it wasn't the weapons and other contraband Farook had, because the weapons and things didn't add up to very much actual volume. No more volume than one run to a grocery store (including diapers).
So the police get hundreds and hundreds of such calls of "suspicious" activity, and every one will require a minimum of investigation and deposition. You're talking about a crew of at least five "full-time equivalents" and a manager for even a small city.
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