Vanity: Solutions Sought for the Sniper Shootings

self | Sunday, October 20, 2002 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

The sniper shootings in the extended Washington, D.C. metropolitan area have law enforcement flummoxed--no suspect; no motive; no positive ID of a get-away vehicle; no effective profile.

12 victims: nine dead and three survivors, plus one complete miss and one inconclusive wounding in Hillandale, Md.

Police are reduced to enacting massive roadblocks and instructing the citizenry to zig-zag through their daily lives.

Rumors abound of lawful gun owners in Maryland receiving phone calls and visits from LEOs about the firearms they purportedly own and their whereabouts at certain days and times.

Motorists are reportedly being searched without warrants as they sit in hours-long back-ups after suspected sniper shootings.

ALL TO NO AVAIL.

The sniper shootings continue as people go about their lives in places they normally feel secure.

Millions of people living and traveling in the area are filled with trepidation at the thought of stopping to fill their gas tanks or running out for a loaf of bread--let alone sending their kids to school or out to play.

Even so, other murders and crimes occur in the area as before, including the firebombing of a Baltimore family's home by drug dealers that took the lives of a mother (who was fighting back at the dealers) and four of her children as well as critically burning her husband.

The hundreds of commonplace murders in this area are cause for caution, not alarm. Yet, though these murders vastly outnumber the sniper shootings, the random nature of the sniper shootings has caused chaos and become a national obsession.

In fact, the sniper shootings have led to a nationwide parlor game of whodunnit and why.

What I'm asking for on this thread is a serious examination of the sniper shootings and lawful proposals for solving and/or preventing further sniper shootings. I'd rather not hear about what the cops are supposedly doing wrong. I'm looking for FReepers to offer positive, pro-active measures to stop and catch whomever is doing the sniper shootings and the reasons why.

[Jim Noble]

>>I don't believe that the law enforcement mindset is sufficient to acts of war, or that anything short of what I recommend is enough to solve the problem<<

and I, for one, totally agree.

Be fair to the LEOs, however-it isn't a problem of "mindset", it's a problem of resources, tactics, and strategy. Police Departments are not designed (nor should they be) to fight wars.

When PDs try to fight wars, they often screw up. All the SWAT gear in the world does not make warriors or supply the necessary tactical and strategic operational planning, all of which are required for war.

Your suggestion is very good.

[Jim Noble]

>>Make guns illegal. Then the snipers would have nothing to shoot with<<

Unless they used an illegal gun...

[Rome2000]

Bush could issue an executive order interning all resident aliens and immigrants from Muslim countries, for starters, and use this oppotunity to institute mass deportations of illegal aliens.

If that isn't done, this sniping will be looked back upon fondly as the the good old days.

[blam]

"Bush could issue an executive order interning all resident aliens and immigrants from Muslim countries, for starters, and use this oppotunity to institute mass deportations of illegal aliens."

Wouldn't that hurt their feelings?

You'd better be prepared to defend yourself, this war is just beginning.
It doesn't make much sense to send them back home when the borders are wide open, huh?

[PGalt]

Citizens. The militia the founders talked about. Armed with their personal weapons, cell phones, walkie-talkies, cb's, all roads shut down within minutes of evidence of a shooting from mainstream t.v., radio, or tornado alert siren. All license plates allowed through the dragnet recorded. Traditional "law enforcement" cannot stop crime. We the people can. Picture that same scenario on a smaller scale...say a bank robbery...the robber has NO PLACE TO GO. We the people...

[politeia]

Thanks for your encouragement for this "civil defense" response idea. I really think these attacks require very innovative thinking and responses. Using citizens to defeat the snipers get-away and instant communication with citizens is the key.

In addition to using civil defense sirens to alert drivers, there is also the radio emergency broadcast system alerts that interrupt radio/TV broadcasts. These cold war era civil defense systems already exist and could be implemented immediately. After a sniper shooting and an instant alert to drivers to stop all traffic and tune to the civil defense station, police can use information from any witnesses to direct their search. Information about the vehicle or sniper could be broadcast and people could report any sightings immediately by cell phones.

Also, dogs may be very helpful. After watching an amazing TV program that documented how a police tracking dog followed the trail of a kidnapped baby in a vehicle for over 10 miles on a freeway and correctly identified the exit ramp used by the car, I believe dogs might be be very useful in tracking the snipers.

Hopefully the dogs could track the scent of a sniper (and the sniper's vehicle) from the scene. If all traffic is already stopped, then there would be more chance of success with the dogs. I also believe that this approach would be less offensive to civil liberties than some of the tactics mentioned in Kristinn's posting because police questioning and serching will center on vehicles identified by witnesses and tracking dogs.

[Momaw Nadon]

Is it time to bring in psychics to solve the DC area sniper case?

[VaMarVet]

I live near and travel through many of the sites that the sniper has already used. I shudder at the thought of many of my neighbors armed and set loose on a vigilante hunt. I appreciate your thoughts, but except for the active duty and retired communities here not many have any experience with side arms or rifles.

[VaMarVet]

Active duty and retired military communities - quite large in N. VA.

[verity]

Instead of worthless speculation, invest your time in cleaning your kitchen floor.;~)

[rstevens]

If we really wanted to catch these guys, I say these guys, because I'm convinced this is a well planned operation by Al Qaida, we will need to ignore the PC'ness and start profiling the residents in and around each snipper location.

I believe the white vans are decoys and the real snippers have safe havens near each shooting location. LE/FBI etc should cordon off a square mile of each location and start knocking on doors, looking in garages etc.

I will bet they will find many many middle eastern men age 20-40 in every locale.

This is a war folks, only we are not treating it as such. Forget about a "loner physco" and concentrate on the real enemy, Muslims who are sworn to kill every American, and getting a good start at it too.

[thepitts]

Citizens. The militia the founders talked about. Armed with their personal weapons, cell phones, walkie-talkies, cb's, all roads shut down within minutes of evidence of a shooting from mainstream t.v., radio, or tornado alert siren. All license plates allowed through the dragnet recorded. Traditional "law enforcement" cannot stop crime. We the people can. Picture that same scenario on a smaller scale...say a bank robbery...the robber has NO PLACE TO GO. We the people...

Before it's all over this may be the only soulution.

[EternalVigilance]

Be fair to the LEOs, however-it isn't a problem of "mindset", it's a problem of resources, tactics, and strategy. Police Departments are not designed (nor should they be) to fight wars.

Actually I was referring to the mindset of the people...those who want to view this as a 'law enforcement issue'...when we are dealing with an armed military unit, in all probability.

I agree that PDs, by their very nature, are not equipped or trained for this.

[ReformedBeckite]

I don't know how good those satellites are, or what their coverage area is,.....

I'm not so sure it's how good these satellites are, because I have a feeling they're good enough to extract enough imformation from them to help find the killer, I believe the problem is getting enough, and good enough analysts to get information out of these satellites. The odds are this guy is on some video tape or on satellite stuff. It's just a matter of recogonizing it or getting some one to recogonize it.

[Jim Noble]

>>This is a war folks, only we are not treating it as such<<

Man, you are right about that!

I just got off of a flight into Reagan, where on boarding I was searched, my bag was searched (separately), and I was gate searched, while obvious ME types went on no problem.

Let's start a list of things that would be happening "if we were at war"

#1-Coast Guard would be transferred from Transportation to Defense,

#2-Visas from enemy countries would be cancelled and enemy nationals would be interned or deported,

#3-Size of combat arms would be increased, with draft if necessary,

#4-I await your suggestions

[boris]

"start profiling the residents in and around each snipper location."

Muslim-owned barbershops?

--Boris

[SamAdams76]

Police should start discreetly checking out who is booked in the nearby motels when a shooting takes place. I theorize that the sniper might be avoiding the dragnet by staying in a motel. That is, he would have checked into the motel several hours (say around 5 or 6PM) earlier in which time he would wait for darkness to fall and then slip out into the nearby woods. Obviously he would be familiar with the area and might even have stayed in the area prior under a different name to scope things out. Once the sniper does his shooting, he would quickly disassemble the rifle (perhaps stash it in a knapsack?) and slip back into the Motel just in time to catch the action on CNN. Wouldn't it be ironic if it turns out that after all these dragnets and roadblocks that the killer was safely cocooned in a motel room just a few hundred yards or so from the scene?

How would the police search the motels? I'm sure they have their ways but I would think that any motel manager would be cooperative with authorities and would allow them to go room to room, checking out everybody to make sure they are who they say they are.

Many of the shootings occur near wooded areas. Evidently the sniper is taking the shot from the treeline and then disappearing into the woods where he likely makes his escape (either to a motel or a waiting car). I think we should quietly issue night goggles to police (and maybe even National Guardsmen) and start staking them out in woods nearby likely targets, such as shopping malls, restaurants and gas stations. We are talking a lot of personnel here and it is impossible to cover every possible area, but the more people we have out there, the better the chances are of catching the sniper team in the act.

The key to catching the snipers is to saturate the area and catch them in the act or at least be on the scene within a minute or two of the shooting. Fifteen minutes is plenty of time for a professional to get away for good. I suggest planting police in the woods with night goggles, having police cars stationed on every main drag and as soon as a shooting occurs, the motels in the area need to lock down and not let anybody in until the police arrive and can check them out.

[Talldocs1]

Prayer and fasting.

[XBob]

though I do not agree with it, some years ago, there was a proposal for all gunpowder in shells to be seeded with tiny plastic tags which would ID the gunpowder (after the shot) to a specific batch, sort of like a DNA marker.

And it certainly wouldn't solve today's problem, but perhaps we should consider it for tomorrow. The technology exists.