You guys just keep saying the right things... My comments are below... -------------- Jim Sewell (jims@Central.KeyWest.MPGN.COM) said :

Subject: Re: Warrantless searches -- A sign of things to come? To: cypherpunks@toad.com Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 10:30:25 -0400 (EDT) From: "Jim Sewell - KD4CKQ" <jims@Central.KeyWest.MPGN.COM>

Slightly reformatted, but the content is faithfully reproduced:

<My computer told me that GERSTEIN@SCSUD.CTSTATEU.EDU said:>

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On Sun, 17 Apr 94 13:39:39 paul@hawksbill.sprintmrn.com (Paul Ferguson) wrote:

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A Page 1 story in The Washington Post Sunday (94.04.17) reads,

... [warrantless searches of housing project] ...

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Anyway, the point is, these people aren't safe in their own homes.

Then the cops need to sting/watch these guys until they catch them committing these felonies and throw them in jail, not invade the privacy of a citizen cuz they think it's right. If the cops were watching that neighborhood then the child couldn't have been sniped without the shooter getting bagged. It is a poorly chosen solution to the police force's inability to do their job well due to fear and/or underfunding.

You see, Jim, the drug deals go on inside the apartment buildings. How easy is it to do surveilance (sp?) on an apartment that is run by gangs, surrounded by their other apartments, on floors that are run by the gangs? Sure, you can do a phone tap. But that doesn't work on cellular phones.... You could also take over an apartment in another building and bounce lasers off the windows, but their damn music is too loud, or they change the rooms they do business in daily (the gangs aren't stupid, you know). And if you did find some way to bust them, how are you going to do it? Fire-fight your way through 3-4 floors of crack-crazed junkies with Uzi's? I don't think so. As far as the sniper killing that little kid, think about what you said. You really think the sniper didn't hang around on the roof-top, waiting for that first cop car to roll up? He's not dumb. They have to get to the building, and he can "reach" them a hell of a lot better than they can fire at him. And once they get inside, it's the same thing. The cops have to fight their way to the roof, at which point the gun and sniper are both inside the building somewhere, safe and cozy. In many ways, the situation has gotten better since the searches started. I AM NOT SAYING I AM FOR THE SEARCHES, I am merely saying that they are being productive. I challenge you C'punks to come up with a better solution. Given the circumstances that those involved are dealing with, it's pretty good for now. Adam Gerstein Comments to: GERSTEIN@SCSU.CTSTATEU.EDU Flames to: /dev/null -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-