Police Checkpoints to Control Gangs
by Jeff Davis
According to the Washington Post, “D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area… Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers’ identification and ask whether they have a legitimate purpose to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away. The Neighborhood Safety Zone Initiative is the latest crime-fighting attempt by Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty who have been under pressure from residents to stop a recent surge in violence. Last weekend was especially bloody, with seven slayings, including three in the Trinidad area. Police will search cars if they suspect the presence of guns or drugs, and will arrest people who do not cooperate, under a charge of failure to obey a police officer, officials said.”
Note the liberal term “gun violence.” Not “Black gang violence” or even “criminal violence,” but “gun violence,” as if inanimate objects made of metal can sprout legs and commit violent acts without any human assistance whatsoever. And who determines what a “legitimate purpose” is for visiting a neighborhood?
The black residents of D.C. are especially dangerous, so in one sense this is a step in the right direction. The U. S. military is using similar tactics in Iraq by sealing off certain neighborhoods and controlling entrance and exit, in essence putting all the people in those neighborhoods in jail. The Americans learned this technique from the Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza, where Israel has in effect placed an entire nation of people in prison. Apparently these extreme measures are being applied to the big city gang problem. (more…)