DC Police State

[maryf]

http://dcist.com/2008/06/04/mpd_to_seal_off.php

Text on edit

June 4, 2008
Police to Seal Off D.C. Neighborhoods

2008_0604_police.jpgCan you say Police State? The Examiner has the scoop on a controversial new program announced today that would create so-called "Neighborhood Safety Zones" which would serve to partially seal off certain parts of the city. D.C. Police would set-up checkpoints in targeted areas, demand to see ID and refuse admittance to people who don't live there, work there or have a “legitimate reason” to be there. Wow. Just, wow.

Some of the words used to describe such a plan by those quoted in the Examiner story include "breathtaking" and "cockamamie," but that hardly begins to scratch the surface. Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles actually said that measures of this sort have "been used in other cities.” Which cities are those, Mr. Nickles? Warsaw?

Today's proposal appears to be a desperate attempt by the city to tamp down recent violence that has ravaged the city, especially in Ward 5. The "Neighborhood Safety Zones" would last up to 10 days. It's a struggle to think of words to describe such a plan other than authoritarian or ghettoization.

The full description of this plan from the mayor's press release is below.

Photo by AlbinoFlea

The Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative has been developed to help increase security for those who live in high-crime areas around the city and to help residents reclaim their communities. The program will authorize the Metropolitan Police Department to set up public safety checks to help safeguard community members and create safer neighborhoods in the District by increasing police presence aimed at deterring crime.

more at link: http://dcist.com/2008/06/04/mpd_to_seal_off.php

[Snarkoleptic]

1. That's majorly fucked up.

Another shuffle to the right in the 7 steps to fascism.

[maryf]

2. You said it!

don't lose your papers...WTF

[Elidor]

3. Warsaw? I thought of Fallujah

This has got to be challenged in court.

[maryf]

5. One would think

don't hold your breath...the people with money there probably love it...

[Doctor_J]

4. It's a dry run for when they lock the country down within a couple years

I'm not sure how many "soldiers" Blackwater employs, but with the heavy weaponry they have and the 25% or so people who want to live in a police state, it's probably doable.

[maryf]

6. like the Iowa immigrant raid

tests to see who will protest...

[tom_paine]

7. Exactly. The chains tighten ever so slowly...