Big brother is getting better...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,67864,00.html

New scanner technology fitted to police cars 'reads' the plates on all the cars the patrol car passes, checks them to see if its a stolen car or any warrants on the owner.

Used to be you had to be dumb enough to get stopped for a traffic violation before you'd get yourself in trouble. Now its automatic.

Should be interesting once they expand it to pull up that the car that just drove by is owned by someone with a suspended or restricted drivers license...considering the majority of people who have had their license lifted continue to drive...

 

[VoyT]

    Of course, it won't be long before someone invents something to spray on the plate to throw off the scanners. 
   
   

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Then I'm sure we'll spend another billion on a detector to detect the spray, and then make it illegal to put on the spray... :

 

[JPatrick]

Anyone aware of the tens of thousands of dirtbags that roam our streets despite an active warrant will welcome this device.
With any luck at all some descretion will be applied and the badest of the bad will get the most attention.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You do know that the cops and state government count on a certain percentage of these people, usually with minor warrants, dont get caught or dont get caught all at once?

The jails, holding cells and courts would be completely choked for years processing them, and the jails and prisons would have to be doubled or tripled to handle their sentenced. Out of our wallets.

Not saying its a good thing that they're left to piddle about but the alternative is a little hard to swallow.

Discretion? Thats a good one

 

[Nords]

You do know that the cops and state government count on a certain percentage of these people, usually with minor warrants, dont get caught or dont get caught all at once?

The jails, holding cells and courts would be completely choked for years processing them, and the jails and prisons would have to be doubled or tripled to handle their sentenced.  Out of our wallets.

Not saying its a good thing that they're left to piddle about but the alternative is a little hard to swallow.

I know an old stoner (but a great surfer!) on the North Shore whose rap sheet is literally as long as your arm.

HPD knows where he lives and they could pick him up any time.

Instead they leave him alone but he's aware that their benevolent eye is upon him. And the outstanding fines/warrants make him very nervous about applying for unemployment benefits or welfare (it's his own self-imposed paranoia). So he keep himself gainfully employed and even pays his taxes.

He doesn't turn himself in because he says he still doesn't have enough money to pay the $3000 fines. I guess he's built a far better jail cell than HPD could ever escort him to.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That was a funny dynamic one of my wifes old neighbors (in her crappy scary neighborhood) used to tell me about. He said when he was working, had money and lived in a nice neighborhood, the cops came by pretty quick to pick him up when a warrant was issued. When he was out of work, penniless and lived in a dump they wouldnt bother. His thought was that they werent going to bother with him if he couldnt pay the fines, it was just going to cost them time and money.

 

[JPatrick]

You do know that the cops and state government count on a certain percentage of these people, usually with minor warrants, dont get caught or dont get caught all at once?

The jails, holding cells and courts would be completely choked for years processing them, and the jails and prisons would have to be doubled or tripled to handle their sentenced.  Out of our wallets.

Not saying its a good thing that they're left to piddle about but the alternative is a little hard to swallow.

Well let's say you live in Quietsville USA and your city only has 20,000 active warrants not counting traffic.  Your city gov says the same thing you say--oh gee where would we put them. Besides we catch some of them during traffic stops.  Yup we have a warrant section. Stop by for coffee and donuts sometime.
So out of 20,000 let's say 2000 are continuing to live a life of crime.  You can screw around and wait to catch them (almost by accident) and let them do their thing or you can aggressively go after them, and yes you probably have a pretty good idea where to find them.
If you take the worst 10% off the streets on an ongoing basis you will see huge results and soon.  It is even true that if you keep it up the ex-cons may decide not to locate to your city and some of the present criminal population may relocate.  Called crime displacement.  I give you my problems, I win.




Discretion?  Thats a good one

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Maybe. As Nords points out though, many people with a warrant live a life of quiet desperation where they dont really do much of consequence, good or bad. A lot of warrants are for unpaid parking tickets, victimless misdemeanors, etc.

Back to VoyT's comment. I was thinking last night how this echoes the radar detector situation. Radar comes out; companies make radar detectors. States make detectors illegal, companies make hidden detectors. Companies make radar detector detectors. Companies make radar detectors that cant be detected with the detector detector. Companies make radar so good detectors become largely useless.

Who made out in that series of transactions?

 

[Nords]

Maybe.  As Nords points out though, many people with a warrant live a life of quiet desperation where they dont really do much of consequence, good or bad.  A lot of warrants are for unpaid parking tickets, victimless misdemeanors, etc.

Back to VoyT's comment.  I was thinking last night how this echoes the radar detector situation.  Radar comes out; companies make radar detectors.  States make detectors illegal, companies make hidden detectors.  Companies make radar detector detectors.  Companies make radar detectors that cant be detected with the detector detector.  Companies make radar so good detectors become largely useless.

Who made out in that series of transactions? 

The laser manufacturers!

 

[JPatrick]

You do know that the cops and state government count on a certain percentage of these people, usually with minor warrants, dont get caught or dont get caught all at once?

The jails, holding cells and courts would be completely choked for years processing them, and the jails and prisons would have to be doubled or tripled to handle their sentenced.  Out of our wallets.

Not saying its a good thing that they're left to piddle about but the alternative is a little hard to swallow.

Discretion?  Thats a good one

Well let's say you live in Quietsville USA and your city only has 20,000 active warrants not counting traffic.  Your city gov says the same thing you say--oh gee where would we put them. Besides we catch some of them during traffic stops.  Yup we have a warrant section. Stop by for coffee and donuts sometime.
So out of 20,000 let's say 2000 are continuing to live a life of crime.  You can screw around and wait to catch them (almost by accident) and let them do their thing or you can aggressively go after them, and yes you probably have a pretty good idea where to find them.
If you take the worst 10% off the streets on an ongoing basis you will see huge results and soon.  It is even true that if you keep it up the ex-cons may decide not to locate to your city and some of the present criminal population may relocate.  Called crime displacement.  I give you my problems, I win.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

An interesting event. Was taking the dogs for a ride around my wifes old neighborhood, which is about 15 miles from an air force base. Hadnt been down the road to it before, so we drove down it until I could see the main gate, then I did a wide u-turn. About halfway through it, my detector went off for the first and only time with a laser hit, and stayed on screaming full tilt for about 1/2 mile as I drove in the opposite direction. Not a cop car in sight. Wide open road with browned out fields for acres in all directions. Still wondering who was hitting me with what...targetting laser?

 

[REWahoo]

... we drove down it until I could see the main gate, then I did a wide u-turn. About halfway through it, my detector went off for the first and only time with a laser hit, and stayed on screaming full tilt for about 1/2 mile as I drove in the opposite direction. Not a cop car in sight. Wide open road with browned out fields for acres in all directions. Still wondering who was hitting me with what...targetting laser?

Since 9-11 all military bases treat activities like yours (u-turn in sight of the gate) as suspicious. Targeting laser? You bet.

REW

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Still wondering who was hitting me with what...targetting laser?

Probably. I'm wondering if your detector is mounted wrong and missed that you were targeted while approaching, too. Actually there was probably an F16 on patrol that had you locked in for security or maybe just for fun. Some military acquaintences of mine told me they were setting up under a tree at the edge of a forest for some sort of exercise when out of nowhere an F16 did a loud low altitude flyover them and radioed back "you're dead". How they got spotted under a tree is beyond me.

Reminds me of when the President came to my town. I worked at an aircraft maintenance hangar, and many of us watched the aircraft unloading/loading activities from the open bay doors staying respectfully--and self-preservingly--back from the taxiway. But one idiot went out and started climbing the outdoor tailstand (a 30' tall structure for the mechanics to access a plane's backend) to get better photo shots. We yelled at him to come back, but he thought there was no such danger. We're convinced he had multiple snipers targeting him and lament that they didn't find cause to shoot; we should've held up signs saying "please shoot him". (He was an idiot in many other ways, too...the annoying kind.)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

How they got spotted under a tree is beyond me.

Thermals?

(He was an idiot in many other ways, too...the annoying kind.)

Reminds me of the time the company jet landed at a different airport than it usually does (fog). This one dude that nobody, and I mean NOBODY liked is pissed because his car is at the other airport and hes flipping out that he's going to have to sit on a bus for 15 minutes to get there.

The usual airport lands us on a strip right in front of the little jet center...this one had us several hundred feet away with several other jets warming up. Guy starts walking right behind one of them. Everybody is holding their breath and not one person suggests he avoids walking through the jetwash...............WHAM! Small cheers and several "YES!" with fist pumping.

 

[VoyT]

The jails, holding cells and courts would be completely choked for years processing them, and the jails and prisons would have to be doubled or tripled to handle their sentenced.  Out of our wallets.

     Already a problem in my city ... the county jails are chronically overcrowded, and are under court order to do something about it. So, they let some of the inmates out early.  I've read of a couple of cases where the early-out person has been arrested again -- this time as a suspect in a killing