Voluntary checks for guns
NOCODE#1
Posts: 1,477
Totally for this program, there is nothing in my home i would not want to police to see. I wont hide the fact that i am anti guns and anti people who like/tolerate guns.
from Feb 2008
Boston police prepare to go into some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, knock on doors of private houses, and ask if they can search for illegal guns without a warrant, officials are trying to pitch the idea of the plan as friendly cooperation to residents who still see it as a threatening intrusion.
more stories like this
A friendly looking logo - a drawing of a house surrounded by the sun - adorns the brochure police have drafted to explain and promote the initiative, "Safe Homes." Photos of officers playing baseball with children and chatting with teenagers dot the pamphlet. Twice, police have taken calls from listeners on a black radio station in Roxbury.
By the time they start going door to door next month, police hope they will have reassured clergy, neighborhood leaders, and parents who still see the program as a way to violate the privacy of residents in neighborhoods with a large population of minority-group members and and immigrants.
"There is a big trust issue," said Deputy Superintendent Gary French, who will oversee the Safe Homes program. "I think a lot of people think there's going to be some kind of behind-the-scenes hook to this, and there really isn't. The reality of it is it's strictly a program aimed at getting guns out of the hands of juveniles."
Police plan to search for weapons in four Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods by late February or early March. Relying on the tips from schools, community organizations, and parents, they will look in the rooms of any children whose parents or guardians give consent to the search, French said. (The program does not apply to anyone over 18, because they are legally adults and parents can no longer give consent to a search of their rooms.)
Ten officers and a sergeant assigned to the city's schools have been trained to conduct the searches. Most of them speak a second tongue, Spanish or Cape Verdean Creole.
To further put residents at ease, officers will wear civilian clothes and try to look like office workers on casual Friday rather than FBI agents, French said. "They won't go in there in a three-piece suit."
Since announcing the initiative in November, police have held several community meetings about the program and developed an advisory council of religious and community leaders. They suggested that the brochures make clear that residents do not have to consent to the search, and they urged that ministers or social workers accompany police during searches, French said.
Some clergy members have apparently volunteered to accompany police on the searches because they are suspicious of their intent.
"My belief is there are ministers that will do it as part of their ministry because they want to make sure police don't overstep their boundaries," said the Rev. David Wright, executive director of the Black Ministerial Alliance, whose board has not decided whether to endorse the program. "And I think that's a valid point."
Other ministers are staying away from the searches. They fear that if they are with police when they find a gun that is connected to a homicide, residents will stop trusting them.
"I'm not going to go and help them get a gun, and then a kid gets arrested because there's a body on it," said the Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, a Dorchester minister. "There is my credibility going down the tubes."
Like many ministers, Harrison works with gang members and tries to persuade them to hand over their weapons anonymously. He knows they trust him because he will not turn them in.
Harrison has also lost a loved one to the violence: His nephew, Roderick Carter, 23, was fatally shot last month.
"I'm conflicted about this thing here," Harrison said. "I know they're trying to do everything they can to get guns off the street. I commend them for that, but I don't think that's the way." French said police will test all the guns to see if they were used in shootings. But he said he doubts any child would be arrested as a result of the search, even if police found a gun that turned out to be a murder weapon.
"If I stopped you today and you have a gun, that doesn't suggest that you had that firearm two months ago," he said. "It doesn't put you at the scene of a crime. . . . If we don't have any information that ties you to the earlier crime, that investigation is going to go nowhere."
Wright said it is possible that a child could be storing a gun for a gang member - a friend, a relative - and would be beaten if police took the gun. But French said that possibility was remote.
"There are a thousand what ifs with this program," French said. "I don't see us running into a lot of situations where we run into some of the worst-case scenarios that are being put out there."
French has found converts. He won over M.C. Spice, host of "The Big Morning Thing" at Touch 106.1 FM, when he spoke about the program on the show.
"I was so against it," said M.C. Spice, program director of the station, located in Grove Hall. "But the fact that he came in here and he was a person - he wasn't in there with direct orders: 'Hey we're the Gestapo and we're going to go in.' He said his point with passion and conviction. He cared about the youth."
from Feb 2008
Boston police prepare to go into some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, knock on doors of private houses, and ask if they can search for illegal guns without a warrant, officials are trying to pitch the idea of the plan as friendly cooperation to residents who still see it as a threatening intrusion.
more stories like this
A friendly looking logo - a drawing of a house surrounded by the sun - adorns the brochure police have drafted to explain and promote the initiative, "Safe Homes." Photos of officers playing baseball with children and chatting with teenagers dot the pamphlet. Twice, police have taken calls from listeners on a black radio station in Roxbury.
By the time they start going door to door next month, police hope they will have reassured clergy, neighborhood leaders, and parents who still see the program as a way to violate the privacy of residents in neighborhoods with a large population of minority-group members and and immigrants.
"There is a big trust issue," said Deputy Superintendent Gary French, who will oversee the Safe Homes program. "I think a lot of people think there's going to be some kind of behind-the-scenes hook to this, and there really isn't. The reality of it is it's strictly a program aimed at getting guns out of the hands of juveniles."
Police plan to search for weapons in four Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods by late February or early March. Relying on the tips from schools, community organizations, and parents, they will look in the rooms of any children whose parents or guardians give consent to the search, French said. (The program does not apply to anyone over 18, because they are legally adults and parents can no longer give consent to a search of their rooms.)
Ten officers and a sergeant assigned to the city's schools have been trained to conduct the searches. Most of them speak a second tongue, Spanish or Cape Verdean Creole.
To further put residents at ease, officers will wear civilian clothes and try to look like office workers on casual Friday rather than FBI agents, French said. "They won't go in there in a three-piece suit."
Since announcing the initiative in November, police have held several community meetings about the program and developed an advisory council of religious and community leaders. They suggested that the brochures make clear that residents do not have to consent to the search, and they urged that ministers or social workers accompany police during searches, French said.
Some clergy members have apparently volunteered to accompany police on the searches because they are suspicious of their intent.
"My belief is there are ministers that will do it as part of their ministry because they want to make sure police don't overstep their boundaries," said the Rev. David Wright, executive director of the Black Ministerial Alliance, whose board has not decided whether to endorse the program. "And I think that's a valid point."
Other ministers are staying away from the searches. They fear that if they are with police when they find a gun that is connected to a homicide, residents will stop trusting them.
"I'm not going to go and help them get a gun, and then a kid gets arrested because there's a body on it," said the Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, a Dorchester minister. "There is my credibility going down the tubes."
Like many ministers, Harrison works with gang members and tries to persuade them to hand over their weapons anonymously. He knows they trust him because he will not turn them in.
Harrison has also lost a loved one to the violence: His nephew, Roderick Carter, 23, was fatally shot last month.
"I'm conflicted about this thing here," Harrison said. "I know they're trying to do everything they can to get guns off the street. I commend them for that, but I don't think that's the way." French said police will test all the guns to see if they were used in shootings. But he said he doubts any child would be arrested as a result of the search, even if police found a gun that turned out to be a murder weapon.
"If I stopped you today and you have a gun, that doesn't suggest that you had that firearm two months ago," he said. "It doesn't put you at the scene of a crime. . . . If we don't have any information that ties you to the earlier crime, that investigation is going to go nowhere."
Wright said it is possible that a child could be storing a gun for a gang member - a friend, a relative - and would be beaten if police took the gun. But French said that possibility was remote.
"There are a thousand what ifs with this program," French said. "I don't see us running into a lot of situations where we run into some of the worst-case scenarios that are being put out there."
French has found converts. He won over M.C. Spice, host of "The Big Morning Thing" at Touch 106.1 FM, when he spoke about the program on the show.
"I was so against it," said M.C. Spice, program director of the station, located in Grove Hall. "But the fact that he came in here and he was a person - he wasn't in there with direct orders: 'Hey we're the Gestapo and we're going to go in.' He said his point with passion and conviction. He cared about the youth."
Let's not be negative now. Thumper has spoken
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Hail, Hail!!!
cant stand hayseeds.
Any bets the Michael Moore interview shaved a few years off his life?
Heston was just a retired actor trying to live out his American Dream, the guy was harmless.....right?
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
I have nothing illegal in my house either, but I would never invite law enforcement in for a "look see". If they believe I have something or have done something wrong, they better have enough evidence to get a search warrant.
I assume it wouldn't be people giving up their own right to privacy to the government so much as people giving up their children's (husband's, etc.) right to privacy.
That's exactly how I feel. It's the same thing as having a store employee following you around to make sure you won't steal something... I ain't gonna steal any of your fucking shit.
Anyone one who buys into this Big Brother, Homeland Security, Patriot act, Warrantless searches crap... would have no problem with the government watching over them. I guess i just don't trust the government as much as they do. and do you blame me? I mean... just LOOK at who is in the fucking government!!!
Hail, Hail!!!
the nation is heading this way, better get on board now
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
It government definitely continues to grow and become more intrusive, no question. But I'll not be jumping on board that train. I'll have to be tied up and thrown on, but will not willingly climb on board.
I agree. It doens't seem like a good idea to let the authorities in unless they have a damn good reason.
they have been gladly giving up rights to "protect" us from the turrists. Just don't come looking for my guns dammit!!!
I'm pretty sure both Democrats and Republicans lined up to erode our liberties by supporting the Patriot Act.
Will Obama, Hillary or McCain repeal the act and restore some of our liberties?
But hey, so long as it's voluntary, I don't have any problem with it. If someone feels that they can gain something by having a cop search their house, so be it.
It's kind of stupid... and kind of scary, really. Because, come on... if you have illegal guns in your possession... are you going to let the cops come in and look for it? And what if you don't let them in? Will you automatically fall under their suspecion? Even if you do not possess any illegal guns???
Hail, Hail!!!
But it is for kids. If your kid has a gun under his bed I can see how some parents might want a cop to come find it and get rid of it.
Why? If my kid had a gun under his bed he'd hear from me about it in a big hurry. But if some people freely request that the government parent their kids, I suppose that is their business/problem.
I definitely agree. It sounds like, however, this isn't about you having a gun in your house, it's about someone else (i.e. your kid, your drug-dealing boyfriend, etc) having a gun in your house. In terms of "automatically fall under their suspicion"...you may have a good point there. Guess we'll have to see how it plays out.
Personally, if a cop showed up at my door asking me to let him or her search for illegal weapons, I'd write him a fake ticket for trespassing and ask him or her to leave. But that's just me. If someone else wants a cop to search their house for guns, for whatever reason, so be it.
I don't have a gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack. What am I gonna do with a gun rack?
Sorry, your post got Wayne's World goin in my head.
I don't see the point of this. I certainly wouldn't let cops in my house for any reason. Like JeffBR said, they better have their warrant ready. Also, adults with illegal guns simply won't turn them over, and if they have kids with guns they need to do a better job running their own household. The more we let government/police take over the basic jobs of families the worse we're going to get.
"Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me, you." -Deep Toughts, Jack Handy
I'm in full agreement. As long as I refuse entry to my home and do not fall under suspicion. I'm not doing anything wrong... I don't even own a gun. I just think that I have a basic right granted to me by the Constitution of my country and my government (law enforcement) should not infringe upon it.
It's the same reason I do not need a store employee following me around to make sure i don't steal something... because I'm not going to steal anything.
Hail, Hail!!!
If I had kids I would probably feel the same way. But I am sure there are parents out there who feel if they confront their kids, or step kids or whoever the minor living in their house, about a gun under their bed, there is a distinct possibility they might get shot with that gun. In that case the police might be very helpful.
Anyway, if you think your kid has a gun hid is his room, wouldn't it be more logical if you looked for it?
What happens if they find something else that is illegal (e.g. drugs)?
Either way, it think this is a rather odd way of getting guns out of the street. It might help, though. Who knows?
naděje umírá poslední
Haha, please enlighten me with your wisdom of why I'd go to prison.
If that's the case... their problems go way beyond illegal guns. Like... I think that even the Columbine killers wouldn't have shot their parents, if their moms and dads confiscated their guns. They hated their school mates... not their parents. You have a real problem if you're afraid you own kid will shoot you because you are concerned about him.
Hail, Hail!!!
My thoughts exactly.
This might be a good idea in the "inner city".
You mean... the inner cities like Littleton, CO.?
Hail, Hail!!!
No, Jackass.
Large cities where 90% of gun violence happens. Predominantly low income areas, housing projects, high drug trafficing areas.
Littleton is a statistical abberation compared to all other gun violence and you can't possibly stop every crazy person from doing crazy things.