The fact that a "white van" was seen in the vicinity of the shooting is just not good enough a description, especially since there are thousands of white vans out on the road. We are going to have to do better than that.
We dont have anything better than that. We happen to have a bad guy out there that is pretty good at not being seen, and so far, pretty good at avoiding these roadblocks, or at least avoiding drawing attention to himself when he's been through one. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. If I knew there was a needle in a haystack, I would be a little nervouse sitting down on it, no matter how small the odds I am gonna get stuck.
For the past 10+ years or so I've observed how LE across the country at virtually every level of our LE organizations has become more and more militarized in their dress, tactics and attitudes (in general) in dealing with the public and the criminal element. Like most everyone here I'm not too concerned with criminal types but I am very much concerned with how our police types are treating the public overall not only involved here but in our everyday life.
The reasons for this are myriad, ranging from a well intentioned but nonetheless out-of-control Federal asset forfeiture law (some could easily argue law sanctioned theft in some cases) where monies and or personal property have been confiscated and converted to use by the confiscatory (sp) agency without having to make any kind of a legitimate case for the legal theft from our citizens that have commited no crime of any kind. However that is another story in and of itself and has been talked and debated here many times already. These proceeds have afforded these LE agencies to outfit and train their cadre in para-military tactics and dress (and I could easily argue gives (at least some of) them more reason to confiscate the innocent publics properties).
And the attitude of the public at-large in dealing with crime in their neighborhoods and with high profile crimes plastered across their television screens and front pages of our local newspapers over the past 10-20 years and demanding that our politicians and police crack down any way they can/could, and not wanting to be bothered with the details of how the police and politicos chose to address the demands of the public fed up with crime.
We are now seeing the results of those attitudes and demands and if the tide isn't turned soon we will all be cowering in our homes and businesses in as much fear of the police as the criminal element. In addition to the pictures you posted here I too have seen over the past week to ten days scenes where black clad and hooded police officers(?) running up to vehicle's on the road at these roadblocks(?) with their highly visible (and extremely intimidating) assault weapons raised and pointed at citizens all the while yelling at the top of their lungs angry orders at these innocent citizens (yes , I said innocent as everyone under our system of once perceived justice is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not by some out-of-control jerk who happens to be pretending to be representing us and law-n-order).
I want this killer('s) caught as well as anyone does but do the police have to compound the fear factor in the community with their tactics?! I must wonder just what some of you police boosters will be saying when one of these crew-cut commando style cops kill an innocent civilian in one of these assault style tactics at a road block or traffic stop when that citizen makes the smallest of mistakes in trying to comply with a screaming black-hooded and clothed maniac pointing an assault rifle at them? I'm sure you'll find a way to say that the dead civilian probably somehow deserved it. I do believe that Stalin would have loved you guys, the way you think that the state (police in this case) can do no wrong in your eyes, period.
And just what is your answer "to doing better than that"?
I remember reading about a case in Australia, where police were asking all men in one part of town to voluntarily provide a dna sample, to help police solve a murder.
In other words, "would you like to prove yourself innocent?"