Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts

October 18, 2011

Another TSA Agent Accepts Bribes from Drug Trafficker

Los Angles Transportation Security Administration agent, Dianna Perez has been charged with accepting bribes from a drug trafficker, Millage Peaks, Jr. Millage Peaks, Jr. allegedly paid $500 to Dianna Perez for each suitcase of illegal drugs she helped clear through TSA security.

Millage Peaks, Jr. was caught, headed from Los Angeles to Boston when baggage handlers noticed his suitcase smelled of marijuana. This was probably the tenth time Dianna Perez had helped Millage Peaks, Jr. get a suitcase through TSA security.

On the surface this may seem just like a harmless case of drug trafficking, but this is far more serious. What if there had been a bomb hidden in anyone of those ten suitcases and Dianna Perez had sneaked it through security thinking it was just full of drugs? Anyone should be able to see the potential danger. These corrupt TSA agents are a serious threat to the security of air traffic. What sort of degenerates is the TSA hiring anyway?

October 12, 2011

Police Opening Doors of Unlocked Vehicles

In another example of police overreaching into the lives of innocent civilians, police in Beverly, Massachusetts are actively looking for parked vehicles with unlocked doors. If a vehicle is unlocked, the police will open the door, lock the vehicle, then shut the door. The police are also leaving warnings for the owners informing them their vehicles are easy targets for thieves. This police action has caused some problems. Some owners left their keys in their vehicles and got locked out of their own vehicles.

This police action is just one element of a larger program in which the police are warning vehicle owners to not make their vehicles targets by leaving valuables in their vehicles in plain view, leaving doors unlocked, etc. The police are going from vehicle to vehicle and leaving written warnings on any vehicles the police feel might be attractive to thieves.

Sure, this sounds like the police are just trying to be helpful, but this is a perfect example of how governments now feel the need to get involved in even the most minute details of innocent people's lives. If people are too stupid to lock their vehicles and keep their valuables out of sight, that is too bad. Those people are taking a risk. If someone steals from the vehicle, the owner will have to face the consequences of being careless. The last thing the vehicle owner needs is some busybody cop putting a sign on the vehicle that advertises to all passers-by there are valuables in the vehicle. That is just idiotic. The cops are marking the targets for thieves.

The most troubling thing is that the cops are actually opening the doors of unlocked vehicles. These vehicles are private property, and opening a private vehicle without permission or a warrant is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. What happens if the cop opens a vehicle and notices something suspicious that might be visible only when a vehicle door is opened? Does the cop continue snooping around in the vehicle? Does the cop make an arrest or file a report if he finds something illegal?

Also, there are some good reasons to leave a vehicle unlocked. Anyone with a convertible or soft-top jeep knows to never lock the vehicle. Thieves cut through soft-tops to get in, and the cost to replace the soft-top far exceeds the value of the items inside the vehicle. Also, people know thieves will smash windows to get into vehicles. Some vehicle owners do not keep anything valuable in their vehicles, so they leave them unlocked, hoping no one will smash a window to get inside. After all, the windows are just glass and do not provide much security. They are, however, expensive to replace.

The bottom line is this. It does not matter why people leave their vehicles unlocked. If people want to do things with their private property that may seem careless, it is not the concern of the police. Here's a fresh thought. Instead of the police wasting time checking door locks, they should be out arresting thieves. The reason we have so many vehicle break-in is because the cops are not doing their jobs and putting the thieves in jail where they belong.

July 21, 2011

Massachusetts Wants to Scan and Track License Plates

Massachusetts has plans to assemble a statewide database that will store records from automatic license plate recognition devices in the state. Automatic license plate recognition devices can be installed virtually anywhere, but they are commonly mounted on patrol cars. These devices rapidly scan and capture license plate numbers of the vehicles within their proximity. The license plate numbers automatically get processed through a database of numbers associated with violations. For example, if a fugitive's license plate number is in the database, and an automatic license plate recognition device scans that plate number, a police officer will be alerted to the presence of the fugitive's vehicle.

This system has a very creepy Big Brother vibe to it, and it creates huge opportunities for abuse. Massachusetts, however, is taking things to the next level. Massachusetts wants to store the data collected by the automatic license plate recognition devices in a big database that the multiple agencies can access. This database would allow the state of Massachusetts to keep virtual tabs on anyone who owns a vehicle and happens to ever get within the proximity of a automatic license plate recognition device. This system amounts to tracking, and innocent citizens who are not suspected of any crime should not be tracked under any circumstances.

July 11, 2011

TSA Fails to Stop Stun Gun from Getting onto Plane

The latest event to be added to the growing list of Transportation Security Administration's failures involves a stun gun. A cleaning crew (not the TSA) found a stun gun onboard JetBlue Flight 1179 from Boston to Newark. This is alarming, because a stun gun could conceivably be used to hijack a plane. The stun gun's ability to intimidate and incapacitate people could be very desirable to someone wishing to take over a plane. The 9/11 hijackers even considered trying to use stun guns in their attack but later decided box cutters would be more practical.

Given the dangers stun guns could pose in the wrong hands on an airplane, it seems the TSA's primary function would be to keep weapons like stun guns off of planes, but they do not seem to be performing that function very well. The TSA, however, has shown incredible skill at molesting small children, harassing wounded veterans, humiliating handicapped people, and running hot chicks through full-body scanners.

On the topic of stun guns, why are the flight crews not armed with stun guns? A stun gun could be a very effective weapon against a hijacker. If the pilots and some flight attendants had stun guns on 9/11, all or most of the hijackers could have been stopped. Given the morbid incompetence of the TSA these days, the flight crews definitely need to be armed to fight against all of the terrorists and weapons the TSA allows on the planes.