On 2006.02.12, at 18:52, R. A. Hettinga wrote:
A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true, as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV. However, it is a looming reality.
Go to House Report 109-333 - "USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005," and check it out for yourself.
Sec. 605 states the following:
"There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.'"
This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the secretary of homeland security."
The new police are empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony."
The Secret Service Uniformed Division is not new (see http:// www.secretservice.gov/ud.shtml). You see them all over DC. I don't know a whole lot about police powers, but can't a police offer arrest anyone if he has probable cause the person has committed a crime? Perhaps "reasonable grounds to believe" is different, but if the author doesn't know about a branch of law enforcement that has been in existence since 1860, I don't have much trust in his other information. /jgt -- http://tamboli.cx/