Outrageous! Man walking down road frisked by police.

[Horse with no Name]

I had to go to Dallas today. I passed through one of the bedroom communities before reaching Dallas--McKinney--and on the side of the road, the local police had a man face down on the ground patting him down. He had a suitcase and appeared to be walking down the road. There wasn't any car and it wasn't in an area that he would have been a threat to anyone.
Is it against the law to walk down the road these days carrying a suitcase?

[dysfunctional press]

1. well, it is texas.

who knows how/(if) minds work down there.

[WiseButAngrySara]

2. Bedroom community? What is this? ...n/t

[Horse with no Name]

3. Suburb?

[uppityperson]

4. It could've been a suitcase bomb you know.

I mean, really! Lite-brites, pornographic CD players, suitcases. Ya just never know.


:sarcasm:

[Gruenemann]

15. It might've contained diapers

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Generally federal courts have upheld criminal procedure that encompasses

stop-and-frisk. However, I'm not certain when such procedure is not sanctioned. Having a person lie down on the sidewalk may be that criteria.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. Indeed.

[MadHound]

7. This has been common practice in towns and cities with authoritarian attitudes and police.

I lived in Springfield Missouri for four years. In that time period I was pulled over for the standard long hair hassle eight times, either walking or riding my bike. I would always ask them why they were pulling me over, one of the most amusing answers was that I was "new in the neighborhood". This when I had been living two blocks away for over a year.

More and more police depts. are adapting this overkill, authoritarian attitude. I moved to the college town of Columbia Missouri, where I biked all over. One night, at two in the very cold morning, I blew through a stop sign on my bike. Got pulled over by a cop, and when I turned my bike around to go talk with him, he pulled his gun on me. Two more cops came screeching in, jumping out and waving guns. The funny thing is that I only got a warning, no ticket, for running the stop sign:eyes:

Police across the country used to operate on the principal that they were public servants. Now they are operating on the notion that they are guards at an outdoor insane asylum, using whatever means necessary to maintain law and order.

[Robbien]

12. That is the scary part

Police not operating on the premise they are there for the public good.

[GreenZoneLT]

8. Walking? In Dallas?

That's got to be a violation of a city ordinance right there. Man's no doubt a dangerous subversive.

[Marnieworld]

9. Did he fit a "profile"?

You know walking while black or Muslim?

[Horse with no Name]

13. Not at all

He wasn't that unkempt. His hair was blonde, a little long, frizzy...Just looked like someone who might have been down on his luck and carrying a suitcase.

[Katherine Brengle]

10. I find it amusing that you are judging the situation with literally

no information other than "man with suitcase" and "frisked" -- for all you know there was a very good reason.

:eyes:

[PA Democrat]

17. LOL!

Personally, I find it "amusing" that you are lecturing the OP for "judging" in this matter. You "judged" another DUer DESPITE facts which directly contradicted your ridiculous statements defending the police brutality to which he was subjected. :eyes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x272761#273539

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=272761&mesg_id=273656

[converted_democrat]

18. Wow.. I just read your other posts on this subject, and all I can say

is wow.


:puke:

[gollygee]

11. Not enough information

the police could have received a phone call that someone had just committed a crime and was walking on that road with a suitcase. Who knows what all was involved?

[quinnox]

14. maybe he was wanted

The police have every right to stop people when they are wanted for a crime.

[Roland99]

16. Perhaps the police had received tips about a suspicious person?

Or perhaps they were following him from a known drug-dealing area.

Many, many reasons.