Posted on 03/27/2008 8:13:15 AM PDT by Nick Thimmesch
Members of the National Capital ACLU were in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Southeast D.C. recently to hand out signs and flyers alerting residents to a new police program called "SafeHomes." They weren't promoting it, they were warning residents about it. The ACLU is also handing out signs for people to place in their windows which read "To the Police..NO CONSENT TO SEARCH OUR HOME."
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
I say: keep 'em up all year round.
Truly amasing.
Guess a “stopped clock alert” is called for here. Wouldn’t it be nice if the President and the Republican Party took the same stand as the ACLU on this issue??
Only because it affects minority neighborhoods. If it was rich white Conservative neighborhoods the ACLU would be nowhere to be found.
Yeah, usually in these cases the ACLU rationalizes reasons to do nothing. The program was so appalling though, even the ACLU could not look the other way.
Probably the real reason the ACLU got involved had nothing to do with guns, but whether the police would find other things in their such that the ACLU really reveres, such as Child Pornography.
Some Freeper who knows how to, perhaps provide the images of the ACLU signs/posters:
http://www.wtopnews.com/docs/aclu_search_consent.pdf
http://www.wtopnews.com/docs/know_your_rights.doc
I think I saw the Devil throwing a snow ball on this day, the same day I actually agree with the ACLU on something!
This shows the ACLU has some intellectual integrity, at least.
Good to see SOMEONE educating those folks about this un-American and frankly offensive program!
Actually, the ACLU has no motive in supporting the rights of LEGAL gun owners. They are merely protecting the rights of ILLEGAL gun owners. There’s a difference here.
“If we see that residents may require other services, then we will notify those other agencies that could be of assistance. The purpose of reporting the information is not to penalize anyone in the home, only to provide assistance.”
abbreviated: “I’m with the government. I’m here to help”
So if the home is dirty and has kids, DHS will be called. If large amounts of cash are found the sheriff will confiscate it until such time as it is proven to be legitimate. If dogs look undernourished, I’ll call the ASPCA, and so on, and so on, and so on...
WINNER!
Well, to be fair, neither would the police search teams.
I don’t think that really matters.
So, the basic idea here is that police approach parents and “offer” to search their out-of-control kids’ bedrooms for contraband. Presumably these parents are not well-versed in the ways of hiding drugs and weapons, so they need help?
The notion of going door-to-door performing searches is very troubling. However, what keeps the police from offering this as an “on-demand” service to residents who ask for it? e.g. to initiate a search, call the local precinct and they’ll dispatch a squad car?
Thanks, pal: I print some out but the flyer’s bound to really eat up some black toner, eh?
True!
Don’t mean to hijack a thread, but we had an incident in our neighborhood that has all of us talking....
We live way out of town, on a minimum of 5 acres, though many of us have much more. It is a mostly wooded area, and most of the houses are very costly.
My neighbor had a knock on his door about 8:30 pm on Monday. He opened to find 2 unmarked cars in his driveway and 2 police officers wearing “police” bullet proof vests and holstered weapons on his porch.
“May I help you?”
“Are you Mr. X?”
“Yes”
“There has been a complaint lodged against you”.
(Mr B ponders this, as he lives a very quiet life)
“What sort of complaint?”
“You have grow lights”
“Yes”
“You may be growing something illegal.”
guffaws of laughter
“May we see where you are growing things?”
“Sure..... wanna go smoke a tomato?”
He showed them his tomato seedlings, and his kholrabi and beets.... oh and his orchids.... you get the picture. And he pointed out how he has a greenhouse down the hill where he moves these things when they get big enough. Mr X opined that actually, they were about 35 years too late.
They left.
Obviously the debate in the neighborhood is, would you make them come back with a warrant (we would) and endure the ensuing hell they would put you through, or just show them and laugh at their tip.
See my post #21
I am just obstinate enough that they would have to come back with a warrant. This is my home and NOONE gets in uninvited.
That is pretty much our line of thinking. Same with the car if we are ever stopped. It is a matter of principle.
When my daughter was a teenager she had an argument with another girl. Long story short the girl’s mother called police and told them a really fabricated story and a policeman showed up at my door....was a real jerk from the minute I opened the door.
I argued with him for a minute then stopped, noted his name and told him to come back when he had a warrant. I then slammed the door in his face. My next call was to the watch commander and I went down and filed a complaint against him.
This is MY house.
But the more I think about it, the more fascist it seems. I have a problem with anybody being able to waive someone else's rights. Granny signs the form, and they find a gun in the grandson's room. So far, so good. Nobody is prosecuted for gun possession.
Yet, after checking it out, it turns out that Sonny's gun has been involved it 2 unsolved gang-banger murders. So the amnesty is rescinded. And Sonny never waived his rights.
And keeping a list?? Suuuuuuuure it's about not knocking on the same door dozens of times. I really, really believe that. Honest!
And what's that about additional social services? Get a social worker in there to tell Granny that she can't smoke in her own home while Sonny, who is under 18 is there? Not to worry, Sonny will soon be elsewhere serving his time for those two murders.
OR perhaps they think there is too much fat in the family diet.
No, the more I think about it, the more this idea gives me the creeps. And I don't mean that in a nice way.
Grammy: no hijack at all, it’s the same principle. Loved the story, especially the outcome, but you have no idea how bad it is out there for small-time growers, who have their water, electric and other utilities monitored and all it takes for an experience similar to yours is someone/anyone dropping a dime.
Best way to put it:
http://www.cafepress.com/norml.37673069
...the flyer’s bound to really eat up some black toner, eh?Load the image into your favorite photo editor and click the "invert" function.
No one who knows Mr X would turn him in. He is basically a gentleman farmer who is semi-retired from the music business.
We (neighbors) can’t figure out if someone saw his lights from across a hill, or if they are doing helicopter flights overhead. A number of us are seriously considering adding grow lights to our decor...
We had the same sort of thing happen when my daughter fired a worker from the day care where she was director. The worker turned her into the dept of children’s services, because the workers kid was hurt while her own mom was tending to her. Was a bunch of crap for the day care and my daughter and her kids for a while.
Wow, the ACLU doing that? You don’t see that every day.
>We (neighbors) can’t figure out if someone saw his lights from across a hill, or if they are doing helicopter flights overhead. A number of us are seriously considering adding grow lights to our decor...<
You could have fun with this. A couple of timers and four or five different color lights would make the informer sound like a real nutcase.
Lol
You sound like just the kind of troublemaker we like in this neighborhood!
Your damn right I would!
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