Entries Tagged as 'Police state'

Martial law provisions implemented in North Carolina

Via WXII12.com – King, N.C. (February 8, 2010):

Residents in King were fumed over the weekend after a state of emergency declaration restricted the sale of alcohol and the carrying of firearms in vehicles.

King Police Chief Paula May said she’s received hundreds of threats related to the restrictions, which banned driving from 12 a.m. Sunday to 5 a.m.

The state of emergency for King was declared by members of the City Council after Stokes County authorities also declared a state of emergency.

Under North Carolina law, May said, when a state of emergency is put into place that includes a ban on driving, the sale of alcohol and carrying of firearms in vehicles is also banned.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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Police want backdoor to Web users’ private data

Via CNET News (February 3, 2010):

Anyone with an e-mail account likely knows that police can peek inside it if they have a paper search warrant.

But cybercrime investigators are frustrated by the speed of traditional methods of faxing, mailing, or e-mailing companies these documents. They’re pushing for the creation of a national Web interface linking police computers with those of Internet and e-mail providers so requests can be sent and received electronically.

CNET has reviewed a survey scheduled to be released at a federal task force meeting on Thursday, which says that law enforcement agencies are virtually unanimous in calling for such an interface to be created. Eighty-nine percent of police surveyed, it says, want to be able to “exchange legal process requests and responses to legal process” through an encrypted, police-only “nationwide computer network.” (See one excerpt and another.)

The survey, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, is part of a broader push from law enforcement agencies to alter the ground rules of online investigations. Other components include renewed calls for laws requiring Internet companies to store data about their users for up to five years and increased pressure on companies to respond to police inquiries in hours instead of days.

But the most controversial element is probably the private Web interface, which raises novel security and privacy concerns, especially in the wake of a recent inspector general’s report (PDF) from the Justice Department. The 289-page report detailed how the FBI obtained Americans’ telephone records by citing nonexistent emergencies and simply asking for the data or writing phone numbers on a sticky note rather than following procedures required by law.

Tags: Police state, Technology by Editor
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Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks

Via Washington Post (February 4, 2010):

The world’s largest Internet search company and the world’s most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.

Related link for the privacy conscious individuals out there: Panpopticlick – a new site from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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Automatic license plate recognition drawing criticism

Via WCSH (January 18, 2010):

Some Maine privacy advocates are criticizing a new surveillance system used by South Portland police that automatically reads license plates.

The Portland Press Herald says South Portland is apparently Maine’s first community to use automated license plate recognition to target traffic scofflaws, people wanted on warrants and other offenders.

Cameras on a cruiser takes pictures of license plans and runs the numbers through the database of the National Crime Information Center.

South Portland police Lt. Frank Clark says the technology can be used to detect stolen vehicles and help find missing people.

Shenna Bellows of the Maine Civil Liberties Union says the surveillance system undermines the fundamental right to be left alone.

Tags: Local news, Police state by Editor
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Bill addresses ATVs on Maine private land

Via WCSH (January 19, 2010):

All-terrain vehicle use on private land is on the agenda in a Maine legislative committee this week.

On Tuesday, the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee takes up a bill that would allow wardens to stop ATVs operated on privately owned property without a reasonable and articulable suspicion to believe a violation of the law has occurred.

That’s a change from the present law, which says a law enforcement officer must have a reasonable suspicion of a violation whether the ATV is on public or private land.

Rep. Ralph Sarty, a Denmark Republican, says he wants to change the law because that extra measure of enforcement is needed to foster good relations between private landowners and ATV users.

Some important information regarding the subject can be found in 2 recent Maine Supreme Court rulings. State v McKeen, and State v Bromiley.

Tags: Law, Police state, State news by Editor
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Hurricane Response Exercise Planned In Maine

I lived in Florida during those two years when there were several major storms (Charley, Rita, Katrina, etc.).

Category 3 storms don’t cause “catastrophic damage”. Plans for power outages and power failures are nothing new up here in blizzard country.

Via WCSH (10/21/2009):

A mock hurricane hitting the northeastern United States and eastern Canadian provinces will be staged to test the response of emergency agencies from both sides of the international border.

The exercise will be run Wednesday from Freeport, Maine. The exercise scenario is built around a Category 3 hurricane which has a catastrophic impact on the northeastern states and eastern Canada.

Participants will address problems such as a widespread loss of power and communications in both countries and moving emergency response resources across the border.

This exercise will test plans and procedures developed by the International Emergency Management Group, a consortium of emergency managers from northeastern states and eastern Canadian provinces.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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Maine Task Force 1 Mass Vaccination Deployment

Maine.gov press release (10/19/2009):

Due to a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus at Bates College in Lewiston Maine, the Director for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention requested Maine Task Force One, a component of the Northern New England Metropolitan Medical Response System, deploy to the campus to assist with the mass vaccination of the student population. A total of 18 embers from Maine Task Force One (Me TF1) deployed to the campus on October 10, 14, and 15 and administered over 1000 H1N1 vaccinations (injections & Flumist) during the deployment.

The entire vaccination clinic was a total success due to the close collaboration between the staff of the Bates College Health Center and the members of Maine Task Force One. The vaccination clinic was held in Chase Hall on the Bates Campus. Staff members from Bates College conducted an initial screening for symptoms of Influenza Like Illness as the students entered the building; the students were then routed to one of two tables in an open foyer where vaccination consent and screening forms were completed. Next the students were directed to one of ten vaccination stations manned by Me TF1 members where they received either the H1N1 Flumist or H1N1 vaccination. The students then were the instructed to rear of the building where a Me TF1 team member was posted to answer any questions the student may have. The average through put time for both the injection and Flumist was 3 minutes.

Tags: Health, Police state by Editor
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Police: Woman Used Stun Gun On Trooper

Via WMTW (10/16/09):

A 65-year-old Maine woman is in jail, accused of allegedly assaulting a state trooper with a stun gun during an investigation into whether she was hoarding animals at her house.

Carol Murphy, of New Sharon, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Thursday in Superior Court in Farmington. Murphy was under a court order barring her from keeping animals after nearly 70 animals were found at her home in 2004 and she was convicted of animal cruelty.

According to an affidavit, Murphy used the stun gun on Trooper Aaron Turcotte on Wednesday after he showed up at her house. He was not seriously hurt.

The Sun Journal reported at least 40 domestic and farm animals — including a donkey, two alpacas and a potbellied pig – were seized the next day.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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Two Nabbed In Waterville Cocaine Bust

Via WCSH (10/15/09):

Officers from seven local, county, and state police agencies met with the media to discuss the details of a major drug bust in central Maine. “I personally cannot remember such a large seizure of cocaine in the central Maine area, going back to 1989 when we arrested an individual from Alaska in a local motel that had a kilo of cocaine,” said Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey. “It is a very large quantity of cocaine that was in our area and it was certainly nice to get that off our streets.”

On Friday October 9th, police executed a traffic stop on Hospital Street in Augusta, pulling over a van. Inside were Eric Prevost and Tabitha Waddell, whom police suspected of dealing drugs in the area. Police officers found just over a pound of cocaine and about a thousand dollars in cash on the pair. Police then searched their home, where they found a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia that leads them to believe drugs were being packaged and sold from the home.

“To disrupt this drug-trafficking group is a significant accomplishment,” said MDEA Director Roy McKinney. “Cooperation, coordination and collaboration is so important because the drug dealers do not know or do not recognize city and town boundaries.”

Waterville Police received a tip that the pair had been selling drugs throughout the area. They contacted other agencies and quickly set-up surveillance on the pair. The information they got aided the investigation greatly according to McKinney. “It is so important for citizens to provide information to the police. Information comes to us and we act upon it and as a result you see a seizure that takes place here and seizures that take place everyday across the state,” said McKinney.

Police estimate the street value of the drugs at about $50,000. Eric Prevost and Tabitha Waddell are both charged with Class A trafficking, which carries with it a penalty of up to 30 years in jail and fines up to $50,000. Waddell has been released on bail. Prevost is being held at the Kennebec County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. Both are scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court on December 8th.

Tags: Police state, War on Drugs by Editor
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Your government loves you

Family Lanes Open At Portland Jetport

The TSA is making traveling by air a little easier for families this holiday season by opening special security lanes for them.

The family only lanes will be open in airports around the country, including the Portland Jetport, starting Thursday.

Families will be able to go through the lanes at their own pace and security agents will inspect liquids like baby formula and medicines.

Isn’t that nice. Your whole family can enjoy being poked and prodded like cattle all at once without having to feel rushed!

Tags: Police state by Editor
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TSA Expands Random Screening to Gates

A month or so old, but I never saw this mentioned in any news outlet at the time. From TSA:

If you are flying in or out of a U.S. airport this summer you may notice Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) conducting random additional screening at airline gates.

The screening – part of TSA’s Aviation Direct Access Screening Program (ADASP) – can include checking passenger identification and boarding passes, conducting physical searches of carry-on luggage, using handheld explosive detection units and screening of individuals. These checks are not announced in advance and can occur at any gate, at any time.

TSA’s specially trained Behavior Detection Officers (BDOs) will accompany the TSOs during some of the screening activities to provide an additional layer of security. BDOs screen travelers for involuntary physical and physiological reactions that indicate stress, fear or deception.

Is it a police state yet?

Tags: National news, Police state by Editor
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Surveillance cameras

Do cameras in public places actually make anybody safer? No, says Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security expert in his latest Crypto-Gram newsletter.

BBC:

CCTV is not as useful in the fight against crime as was previously thought, according to government research.

SF Gate:

The 178 video cameras that keep watch on San Francisco public housing developments have never helped police officers arrest a homicide suspect even though about a quarter of the city’s homicides occur on or near public housing property, city officials say.

UK Guardian:

Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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