This program has been around for years. What is the big deal?
Oh right, President Bush is involved, so suddenly the Democrats are all worried about Orwell's 1984. Give me a break.
Posted on 07/16/2002 2:07:42 AM PDT by ConservativeNewsNetwork
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:38:36 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
As part of the country's war against terrorism, the Bush administration by next month wants to recruit a million letter carriers, utility workers and others whose jobs allow them access to private homes into a contingent of organized government informants. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System (Operation TIPS), a national reporting pilot program, is scheduled to start next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This program has been around for years. What is the big deal?
Oh right, President Bush is involved, so suddenly the Democrats are all worried about Orwell's 1984. Give me a break.
We are already a police state … this is a consolidation of the state’s power against dissent.
These Stasi will all act like petty dictators:
Don’t like his neighbor’s dog – turn him in as a terrorist.
Don’t agree with a Free Republic post – turn him in, too!
If you bother to look at the www.citizencorps.gov/watch.html website, you will see that it is the same Neighborhood Watch program that has been around for the last 30 years.
The Neighborhood Watch Program is a highly successful effort which has been in existence for some thirty years in cities across America. It provides a unique infrastructure that brings together local officials, law enforcement and citizens for the protection of communities.
In cities around the country, neighbors for three decades have banded together to create these "watch" programs. They understand that the active participation of neighborhood residents is a critical element in community safety - not through vigilantism, but simply through a willingness to look out for suspicious activity in their neighborhood, and report that activity to the police and to each other. In doing so, residents take a major step toward reclaiming high-crime neighborhoods, as well as making people in all areas of a city or town feel more secure and less fearful.
 |
The "eyes and ears" of local communities. |
|
 |
The Neighborhood Watch Program is a highly successful effort which has been in existence for some thirty years in cities across America. It provides a unique infrastructure that brings together local officials, law enforcement and citizens for the protection of communities. In cities around the country, neighbors for three decades have banded together to create these "watch" programs. They understand that the active participation of neighborhood residents is a critical element in community safety - not through vigilantism, but simply through a willingness to look out for suspicious activity in their neighborhood, and report that activity to the police and to each other. In doing so, residents take a major step toward reclaiming high-crime neighborhoods, as well as making people in all areas of a city or town feel more secure and less fearful. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the need for strengthening and securing our communities has become even more critical. President Bush has announced that, with the help of the National Sheriffs' Association, the Neighborhood Watch Program will be taking on a new significance. Community residents will be provided with information which will enable them to recognize signs of potential terrorist activity, and to know how to report that activity, making these residents a critical element in the detection, prevention and disruption of terrorism. We will be publishing information which will assist citizens in organizing Neighborhood Watch Programs, knowing what to look for in the community, and understanding what to do if they observe suspicious activity. Under the umbrella of the newly-created Citizen Preparedness Councils, the Neighborhood Watch Programs will help to distribute useful information circulated by the Councils and other agencies. Many neighborhoods already have Neighborhood Watch programs, which are vibrant and effective. For those that do not, this new initiative may provide the incentive for them to participate in an important new effort on behalf of their friends and neighbors, as well as the nation as a whole. Learn more by visiting the Neighborhood Watch homepage. Be part of the Neighborhood Watch Program. Privacy Policy | USA Freedom Corps | Other Resources
|
|
 |
"A national system for concerned workers to report suspicious activity." |
|
 |
Operation TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity. Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected. Operation TIPS, involving 1 million workers in the pilot stage, will be a national reporting system that allows these workers, whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious activity. Every participant in this new program will be given an Operation TIPS information sticker to be affixed to the cab of their vehicle or placed in some other public location so that the toll-free reporting number is readily available. Everywhere in America, a concerned worker can call a toll-free number and be connected directly to a hotline routing calls to the proper law enforcement agency or other responder organizations when appropriate. Operation TIPS is coming in August 2002. Privacy Policy | USA Freedom Corps | Other Resources
|
|
And what are the limits, I wonder... will Operation TIPs only be used for terrorist activity?
Try and imagine someone like the Clintons having this power.
Time to paraphrase that old aphorism of Ben Franklin... we have a republic, if we can keep it.
Turn yourself in and save me the trouble.
What? You say you're not doing anything suspicious? They told me that you guys would say that. That proves it.
May God Bless American - just one more time.....maybe then we'll be able to stop plans like this and whatever else that GW gets from the Untied Nations..........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
