First step toward war on American people?

[willing dwarf]

This is just a simple AP article, but it stopped me cold in my tracks.

I can't believe this is happening inside our own country. There's not a disaster like Katrina, but still this little town of 15,000 people has a 24 hour curfew. I thought Philadelphia Mayor Nutter's proposal for a stop and frisk policy was an infringement, this is way beyond that.

Run away capitalism has divided this country into haves and have nots, and the have nots are forced to live in terror of criminals and police.

Crime-ridden Arkansas town expands 24-hour curfew
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 13, 6:41 AM ET

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. - Officers armed with military rifles have been stopping and questioning passers-by in a neighborhood plagued by violence that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a week.

On Tuesday, the Helena-West Helena City Council voted 9-0 to allow police to expand that program into any area of the city, despite a warning from a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas that the police stops were unconstitutional.

Police Chief Fred Fielder said the patrols have netted 32 arrests since they began last week in a 10-block neighborhood in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi River long troubled by poverty. The council said those living in the city want the random shootings and drug-fueled violence to stop, no matter what the cost.
read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_us/arkansas_town_curfew

[NightWatcher]

1. Land of the free? whoever told you that is your enemy

[DJ13]

2. This is an instance where a responsible Federal government would step in

.....and tell that town they cannot violate the Constitution.

But since we dont HAVE a responsible Federal government, those poor people are screwed.

[MadrasT]

3. WTF

"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."

Uhhh... yeah... unless your work day ends at 2:00 a.m., or you suffer from insomnia, or you got a craving for cupcakes in the middle of the night, or your child has a tummyache and you want to run to the 24 hour drug store for some medicine and ginger ale... or a myriad of other reasons.

I don't live there or know the area... so I can't claim any authority... but I don't like it. Slippery slope and all that...

:grr:

[ben_meyers]

4. Who cares what the local citizens want?

Civilian police forces should not have "military style" weapons to try and control an out of control crime problem. Why can't they just dial 9-11 after they have been shot like everyone else? The police can respond after the the crimes have been committed.

[willing dwarf]

5. No one wants to live in a crime infested area

But there needs to be a larger perspective. How could one small community be so out-of-contol that these extreme measures are required? If there had been war or a natural disaster such a curfew might make sense, but this is every day life. -- Is the police force so over burdened that they have no control? If this was Iraq, they'd call in KBR or Blackwater. Maybe that's where this will head. Privatize the police force in American towns and cities. I wouldn't be surprised.

[GuvWurld]

6. hardly a first step

where you been the past 8 years?

[Fumesucker]

7. What do you think the war on drugs is?

That's been around in its current incarnation since 1972.

And now we have the war on terror, which is just the war on drugs on meth.

[DCKit]

8. I'm thinking this *is* all about meth.

But still don't agree with the fascist tactics. Too many innocent people will get hurt.