Enforcers category archive
Smile! You’re on Candid Camera 0
The EFF takes a deep dive into how police are using Flock traffic cameras to surveil demonstrators exercising their right to protest. A snippet:
Facebook Frolics 0
Retired police officer gets thrown in jail for posting a meme on the Zuckerborg.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A reliable witness? That bridge in Brooklyn is still on the market.
“We’re Just Following Orders” 0
The post title is quote from an ICE agent caught in the video.
Where have we heard that excuse before?
Why do I find no comfort in that realization?
A Notion of Immigrants 0
After 48 years in the United States, a decorated Army veteran Sae Joon Park deported himself to South Korea under threats from ICE.
The delight in being mean for the sake of mean leaves one speechless.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Michael in Norfolk hears a rhyme–one that I am also hearing–and it’s given him a straw at which to grasp.
I hope he’s right about said straw.
________________
*Mark Twain.
A Notion of Immigrants, Catch-22 Dept. 0
He went for a walk, got lost, got arrested by ICE, was incarcerated for over a week, and nearly got deported exiled.
ICE claimed that he did not have “proper immigration documents.”
Not being an immigrant, of course he didn’t.
Catch-22.
It’s the best catch there is.
You can read the full news report here.
(Broken link fixed.)
Distracted Destructive Driving
0
Honest to Betsy, you can’t make this stuff up.
Immunity Impunity
0
If it’s not in a database, then it must have never happened.
Pastry Passtimes 0
Many years ago, when I worked in a corporate training department, one of company’s police officers (yes, the company had its own police force) was detailed to my department. He was good cop and a good person.
If you wanted to get under his skin, all you had to do was make a crack about cops and doughnuts. He found the stereotype offensive, plus he really did not like doughnuts.
And I’m sure he really wouldn’t like the new spin the Houston police has put on cops doing doughnuts.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Among other things, Thom and former FBI agent Mike German discuss the origins of the Second Amendment. It’s likely not what you expect it to be and certainly not what the NRA and its dupes, symps, and fellow travelers would want you to think.
Frankly (I do everything frankly), it rather took me aback, but it did not surprise me.
She Is Accused of a “Terroristic Threat” 0
Thom wanders, where’s the threat?
Keystone Kops of the Kali Kind 0
Even Mack Sennett could not have made this up.
Disparate Treatment 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, law professor Samantha Buckingham wonders how Donald Trump’s numerous criminal trials might have gone if he were not protected by his (reputed) wealth.
The Surveillance Society 0
Joanna Pozzulo, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, warns about the increasing use of automated surveilance technology, particularly facial recognition. She points out that, despite the faith that persons put in these machines, they are by no means infallible.
She makes three main points:
- Surveillance cameras are becoming ubiquitous with facial recognition software often present as well.
- The accuracy of facial recognition significantly decreases for women, young adults, and racialized people.
- Mistaken identification can lead to wrongful prosecution and conviction.
Given the proliferation of these technologies, I think her piece is well worth a read.
Fiction Comes Alive 0
And you thought that the Keystone Kops were just something from old movies that your grandparents watched on black and white telly visions.
Nope. They are very real and may be at your doorstep today.