Posted on 08/13/2005 11:09:49 PM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg
Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. met with reporters this week and declared a potential homeland security threat.
Police received a call last month from a citizen who had taken photos of "Middle Eastern individuals" as they shot video of the Santa Monica Pier and surrounding area in a manner that authorities said was "inconsistent with tourist documentary." ...
(Councilman Herb Katz) said the three photos Butts showed the council during the closed session meeting left him with concerns.
"There were three people taking pictures on a pier that's a tourist attraction," he said. "They were going under the pier and looking at pilings." ...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This article discusses the closed-door meeting of the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday wherein they allocated TWO MILLION DOLLARS in additional anti-terrorism tactics, concentrating on the pier and surrounding shopping areas.
Reading between the lines, Butts and Rand seems to be on top of it.
I met Chief Butts in, of all things, a computer class several years ago. He is a VERY handson guy and seemed like a real straight shooter.
SM Pier would be an excellent target.
Ping.
ping
I can't believe that SaMo's police chief is Butts, ours in Long Beach is Batts, and in L.A. there's Bratton.
What is a video camera going to do under the pier?
I agree with bomb sniffing dogs, etc. You cant keep calling the LASD for a dog as it takes hours.....you deploy some dogs there on the Promenade and it will be barking at gang bangers toting Glocks in the baggy pants too! That is a win win to me.
Now there's an apt description of the crowd at Santa Monica pier.
Must refrain from suggesting leaving maps with directions to Malibu (preferably to Michael Moore's house) under the Santa Monica pier, must refrain..
I think the most telling part of the story is the fact that the city council coughed up an additional $2 million in anti-terrorism funding.
They must have been concerned about something.
Oh, I agree with that.
Does anyone remember the City Councilman that suggested the fire department use their hoses to wash the bums into the Pacific Ocean. I still crack up over that remark....believe it was the late 80s.
Gasp!!! Profiling in the People's Republic of Santa Monica? Haven of the homeless?
Or am I behind the times here?
Somebody slipped some sanity into the water supply, maybe?
Better stop selling those postcards of the pier. One can never know what people will do with them. LOL.
Inconsistent with tourist documents? No doubt the ACLU will produce someone who says his home is a temple dedicated to pictures of pilings undergirding bridges and piers.
And any notice of these guys is profiling and part of the oppresive policies against civil rights of the Bush administration.
bump
Bumping to help insure the safety of our children.
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