What was the alternative to what the police did in Boston?

[Origanalist]

You do realize that anyone can type anything in a text window and take a screenshot?

(ignores video)

 

[tttppp]

I've heard a lot of criticism from libertarians here and on Facebook about the way in which the police in Boston and the Governor and Mayor handled this situation. Most of the criticism is focused on searching house to house which raises 4th amendment concerns, the order for people to stay in their homes and not go to work, the order to close the Subway, the airport, etc. I'm not saying that these aren't legitimate concerns and questions, but what exactly was the alternative in this situation? What should've been done to catch this suspect?

Put checkpoints at all the exits from Boston and not let the suspect leave. Then do business as usual in Boston.

 

[jmdrake]

I think they could've replaced about 8000 troops with 10 bloodhounds and caught the guy quicker. He was bleeding to death, he wasn't going to get really far which is the whole idea of going door-to-door.

Good point. I was thinking about that the other day.

Ok, thanks. That's really the first real alternative that anyone has presented.

I'm curious. Why is the burden on people on an internet forum to come up with a "reasonable alternative" to what is an obvious bloated use of the police state? Seriously? People are being made to agree to the absurd because of how the story is spun. As someone else pointed out, there have been other "terrorist" attacks as in attacks carried out for political motives. The Weathermen conducted acts of terrorism. The KKK committed acts of terrorism. And every school shooting, even though it isn't political, is still an act of terrorism. But when things fit a certain script that is when we start getting asked these questions about what rights we're willing to give up. Why? And yes, it was "largely" voluntary, but in some cases became "involuntary." Ultimately the people are being aclimatized. Eventually the majority will happily pass laws to make such emergency powers mandatory. And that is what everyone who is arguing against you is concerned with.

 

[green73]

LOL

LOL

 

[otherone]

Why is it necessary to frisk the occupants of this house? Do the police think they harbor Chechans on their persons?

 

[jmdrake]

Why is it necessary to frisk the occupants of this house? Do the police think they harbor Chechans on their persons?

You never known when a citizen might have illegal drugs or music downloads in their pocket and those things support terrorism dontchaknow? Never let a crises go to waste.

 

[Lucille]

You do realize that anyone can type anything in a text window and take a screenshot?

I do actually! Would you really be surprised if the alleged gun seizures and drug busts happened?

 

[Brian4Liberty]

I think they could've replaced about 8000 troops with 10 bloodhounds and caught the guy quicker. He was bleeding to death, he wasn't going to get really far which is the whole idea of going door-to-door.

Yep.

Why is it necessary to frisk the occupants of this house? Do the police think they harbor Chechans on their persons?

Good question.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

The lockdown of Boston was extraordinary.

A hot chase for a criminal is ordinary. A relatively small, Police perimeter, where a fugitive is hiding is ordinary.

Shoot-outs with Police casualties happen occasionally, but not daily by any means. These will always generate a much larger Police response. Not really "extraordinary" though.

The only thing that was truly "extraordinary" in this case was the initial crime, and the subsequent over-reaction of the authorities and the Police. Hopefully neither become ordinary.

 

[tod evans]

The only thing that was truly "extraordinary" in this case was the initial crime, and the subsequent over-reaction of the authorities and the Police. Hopefully neither become ordinary.

Snark...

 

[QuickZ06]

LOL

But she still fails to realize that she was on lockdown, ya know like prison.....free America.

 

[MelissaWV]

LOL

It's a deliberate kind of vagueness to the order. It is "voluntary" but the above happened, and people were frisked/detained when they dared to go out. Somewhere else there's the photo of a cop having to fetch milk for a family who could not go outside. If it's voluntary, why did that happen? Even if it was voluntary on paper, all the things I posted show that the IMPRESSION you would get is definitely to stay in your home or else.

People around the final house, and in a few other instances, got the "or else." I will say that at one point the camera pans and shows a crowd at the end of the street, so I don't know if the video was shot along the street where they were evacuating towards the end of the last day when they went to the house with the boat. Even if it is, evacuation implies worry about the safety of the homeowners and knowledge that the suspect is elsewhere. None of that is evident in the video.

Many others got the "okay well we'll take your word for it and respect your right to refuse us entry... have a nice day" just as the TSA lets most folks through without incident.

* * *

otherone:

The frisking is part of being around officers. They are allowed to frisk and search bags to make sure you have no weapons within lunging distance. This is a common sense thing EXCEPT that these people were basically just chased out of their house. This isn't some questioning of random loiterers at 3am in gang territory. These are folks hurriedly dressed with hands on their heads being trotted down the street.

 

[MelissaWV]

https://www.facebook.com/PoliceStateUSA

Lots of photos and videos from Boston.

 

[otherone]

The frisking is part of being around officers. They are allowed to frisk and search bags to make sure you have no weapons within lunging distance. This is a common sense thing EXCEPT that these people were basically just chased out of their house.

It was my understanding that the purpose of the house-to-house search was to find the alleged bomber. I come within "lunging distance" with police all the time...all of us do....at the coffee shop or on the street. Never have I, or others I've seen, been frisked at random. Do police frisk victims or witnesses at a crime scene? When cops see EVERYONE as potential attackers, ooooh bad tidings mi amiga.

 

[Henry Rogue]

Sign should read "Abandon hope all ye who enter here"

 

[Brett85]

Keep in mind that I didn't say that the police did everything right in this situation and couldn't have done anything differently. It seems as though the lockdown was a mistake since it ended up being a private citizen who caught the suspect after the lockdown was lifted. My point is simply that I agree with some of the things that they did and understand why they did all of the things that they did given the situation that existed.

 

[MelissaWV]

Keep in mind that I didn't say that the police did everything right in this situation and couldn't have done anything differently. It seems as though the lockdown was a mistake since it ended up being a private citizen who caught the suspect after the lockdown was lifted. My point is simply that I agree with some of the things that they did and understand why they did all of the things that they did given the situation that existed.

Yeah. You keep saying that. Over and over and over and over and over.

Then when people present alternatives, or point out things that should never be undertaken, you accuse them of "siding with criminals," "wanting nothing to be done," and "not offering alternatives."

It's been a couple of hundred posts. We do get how this is going to go.

 

[Brett85]

Yeah. You keep saying that. Over and over and over and over and over.

Then when people present alternatives, or point out things that should never be undertaken, you accuse them of "siding with criminals," "wanting nothing to be done," and "not offering alternatives."

It's been a couple of hundred posts. We do get how this is going to go.

There have been some people who basically said that the police should've simply put out a "wanted poster" and relied on private citizens to capture the suspect. They basically just want a country of anarchy where each individual defends themselves and the government shouldn't even defend life, liberty, and property.

 

[TheTexan]

There have been some people who basically said that the police should've simply put out a "wanted poster" and relied on private citizens to capture the suspect. They basically just want a country of anarchy where each individual defends themselves and the government shouldn't even defend life, liberty, and property.

And you want a militarized police swarming the city with overwhelming force, coercing people with aimed guns into "voluntarily" leaving their homes to be searched. As if that couldn't end badly.

I wonder, if the cops had shot an innocent person(s), as they did during Dorner, would you hold the same opinion?

 

[nobody's_hero]

Timothy McVeigh was caught for not having a license plate, by a single state trooper.

And, if you believe the official story, he killed waaaaay more people.

That goes to show you just how rapidly we are sliding down the hill. The OKC bombing was in 1995.