Drivers of White Vans are being treated as criminals

Vanity | Self

[SamAdams76]

The photos above currently on the Drudge site concern me. I followed the link and the article clearly stated that nobody was arrested last night.

Why then, do we have drivers of white vans, innocent civilians, evidently being pulled out vans at gunpoint and treated like dangerous criminals? One photo shows a man on the ground, evidently in handcuffs, with police officers standing over him as though they have just captured Whitey Bulger. When I first saw the photo, I figured the man was obviously a wanted criminal that police just so happened to come across during their search. But since there were no arrests last night, this man was obviously released and was no criminal after all.

The other photo shows a man by another white van with his hands in the air and a police officer has a gun drawn on him. Again, this was evidently just another innocent civilian who had the misfortune to be driving a white van on I-95 last night.

Now I understand the need for these roadblocks and for the police to be very thorough in their search for the sniper(s). But I cannot see the point of innocent people dragged out of their vehicles at gunpoint with no pretext other than the fact that they happen to be driving a white van.

Now maybe somebody here has an explanation why these two individuals were treated like criminals. Maybe they tried to evade the police or maybe they were driving stolen vans. But again, there were no arrests made last night. So what is the deal with our citizens being treated like Jesse James just for driving a white van?

[McGavin999]

Sweetie, I've seen your posts on this board, I'm not interested in debating you, you just can't seem to keep on topic.

[SamAdams76]

This is ridiculous. I mean the complaint against authorities searching white vans is ridiculous. Most of us have remarked that racial profiling should be use to track terrorists, but when it is a different kind of profiling, it is suddenly wrong?

I don't think anybody here ever advocated pulling Muslims out of cars at gunpoint, putting them face-down on the street and handcuffing them. Maybe you can point some of those posts out to me being that I missed them.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"It is the implicit fear of punishment for non-compliance when the cops start broad based searches like this that ought to bother us most."

That statement is the basis of the argument.

There are many crimes that have been committed in the past three weeks, but I haven't heard any call to perform broad-based searches to solve those. Perhaps they should? Car-to-car, house-to-house?

Ya know, if we could just stop every citizen on the street and search them, making identification, etc., we could solve all sorts of crimes.

[stands2reason]

There's a difference between "proven guilty" and "probable cause for a felony stop." And from what I've heard, driving a white van is not "probable cause" for anything, since they have no true evidence that the perp(s) in question was even in one.

[McGavin999]

Besides dear, that pink font is just too tacky for words.

[Howlin]

Except it was the "good German" bell.

We'll put you down under "I'd rather let thousands of my fellow citizens die than open my trunk."

BTW, by invoking the "German" thing, you have for all intents and purposes, invalidated any arguments you can make on this forum, but thank you for playing.

Godwin's Law prov.

[Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress.

[Velveeta]

I just tossed all of my toilet paper into the dumpster.

LOL, thanks for the chuckle! Although I'll take a pass on shaking your hand at the moment.

[HairOfTheDog]

They are not "asking", but demanding at gun point.

They are following exactly the procedure that keeps cops alive when approaching an unknown but quite reasonably risky situation. The minute we corner the right guy I hope they are ready for anything.

I would much rather be here on this thread, than be the cop tasked to walk up to a vehicle that they hope and dread has this sniper in it.

And I would much rather be here listening to your emotional response to a cop with a gun drawn, than be on a thread talking about the cop who finally found this sniper getting killed because he walked up to the van unguarded... We are looking for a killer here, not a guy who failed to signal before changing lanes.

[DAnconia55]

How dare you question the Republican Police State. This isn't Klinton or Gore doing this. What do you have to hide in your white van, you American hating leftist? Why are you trying to help the sniper?

Did I miss anything?

[Howlin]

It never occurs to them that unless we ALL have security, they won't have any.

I don't have a thing to hide and I consider it my DUTY as a United States citizen to protect my fellow law abiding citizens at all times.

[ladyinred]

Excellent points.
I would have said them myself were I not so stupid.:-)

[Howlin]

Gosh, you being a patriotic American and all, I'd have thought that you would have understood something the Founding Fathers understood. Those of them that were lawyers used that term, too, you know.

Why don't you tell us what YOU do so we can mock your profession?

[stands2reason]

The Gestalt as in, maybe, lying face down in the middle of the road wearing handcuffs make one look seedy?

[Howlin]

So it's not just me? Whew!

[southern rock]

My LE relative is no "scardy cat" but anyone who gets confrontational with him in a routine stop can indeed expect to be "humiliated."

Confrontational? As in asking why they are being stopped? Asking if they are under arrest? Is that confrontational? How about refusing to have your vehicle searched? Is that too confrontational?

I support him and other policemen fully - as I would support you in a similar situation if you were a civilian law enforcement officer.

Here's hoping you get to play "Simon Says" on the side of the road someday because some LEO is a chicken on a power trip.

My two cents is that our country works because of the rule of law, because people take it seriously and make a bona fide effort to comply. Should the public at large become lawless, the country would implode.

If "the rule of law" was followed, everyone would have the option of being armed, which would make alot of cops unemployed.

[Iron Eagle]

I sure aint English. I am a simple commoner who worked to get an education. My point, to you, obviously missed by you, was that when it comes to probable cause, I actually know what it is. And, I actually know what it is, how its applied, the law that governs it, and how it is viewed in the Commonwealth where I practice. You, obviously don't.

Don't get angry with me because your uninformed. You should be angry with yourself. Instead of wasting your time spewing out useless information, or cutting and pasting from your online dictionary, why don't you pick-up a catalogue at a community college somewhere, enroll, and start getting a clue. (And please, don't give me any real world crap either. Before I ever picked-up a book I worked with all my other "faggy" friends in construction. Then I worked with my other "faggy" friends in running a restuarant. Then, I worked with all my other "faggy" friends in law enforcement, then I spent ten years working my butt-off in school at night so that when I spoke or posted thoughts for public consumption, I wouldn't sound like an idiot. I suggest you do the same.

[HairOfTheDog]

3. never, ever 'smart mouth' the cop

Please define for the benefit of us serfs, so we know how to properly address our "betters".

ADX, if you have to ask what the definition is for a smart-mouth [punk], I hardly think you are going to have the common sense to apply it.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I don't think anybody here ever advocated pulling Muslims out of cars at gunpoint, putting them face-down on the street and handcuffing them.

I have seen numerous posts on numerous threads advocating closing the borders, rounding up all non-citizens from Arab/Islamic countries and physically deporting them. I have also seen numerous such posts that go to include the forced deportation (on pain of imprisonment) all citizens or green-card holders of Arab/Islamic descent.

Such positions are stated many times daily here, with fervor equal to the postions that we are seeing in this discussion/arguement.

Now, as to which would be the least desirable, pulling them out of cars and searching them, or forced deportation, well, I guess that could be the issue of another thread.

[McGavin999]

BRAVO!!! That post deserves a standing ovation!

[HairOfTheDog]

I would have said them myself were I not so stupid.:-)

You are getting a lot of mileage out of that! ;~D