Coming To A Neighborhood Near You
The Los Angeles Police Department has decided to "map" out the neighborhoods where Muslims are gathered so that it can "protect" them from those nasty jihadists (Terra!Terra!Terra!), according to this article in the Los Angeles Times.
An extensive mapping program launched by the LAPD's anti-terrorism bureau to identify Muslim enclaves across the city sparked outrage Thursday from some Islamic groups and civil libertarians, who denounced the effort as an exercise in racial and religious profiling.
Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing, who heads the bureau, defended the undertaking as a way to help Muslim communities avoid the influence of those who would radicalize Islamic residents and advocate "violent, ideologically-based extremism."
While some members of the Muslim community in Los Angeles appear to be willing to cooperate in the program, other leaders aren't so sure this is a good idea, and with good reason, given the LAPD's history of racial profiling and political spying.
"We certainly reject this idea completely," said Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. "This stems basically from this presumption that there is homogenized Muslim terrorism that exists among us."
Syed said he is a member of Police Chief William J. Bratton's forum of religious advisors, but had not been told of the community mapping program. "This came as a jolt to me," Syed said.
Hussam Ayloush, who leads the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the mapping "basically turns the LAPD officers into religious political analysts, while their role is to fight crime and enforce the laws." [Emphasis added]
What is also disturbing about this latest plan by the department is the fact that Deuty Chief Downing was called to Washington to testify before Congress on the new program. What he had to say was chilling, and, one assumes, unintentionally revealing of what is actually behind the plan.
During Oct. 30 testimony before Congress, Downing described the program broadly as an attempt to "mitigate radicalization." At that time, he said law enforcement agencies nationwide faced "a vicious, amorphous and unfamiliar adversary on our land." ...
Downing said the effort would not involve spying on neighborhoods. He said it would identify groups, not individuals.
"This has nothing to do with intelligence," he said, comparing it to market research.
But in his congressional testimony, Downing said the LAPD hoped to identify communities that "may be susceptible to violent, ideologically-based extremism and then use a full-spectrum approach guided by an intelligence-led strategy."
Downing told lawmakers the program would "take a deeper look at the history, demographics, language, culture, ethnic breakdown, socioeconomic status and social interactions."
And this is not intelligence gathering? Not profiling?
It's bad enough we have agencies in the federal government illegally listening to our telephone calls and illegal reading our email. Now we have the local wannabes building files on us, just as they did in the '70's and '80's.
George Orwell had it right; he just was off by a few years.
An extensive mapping program launched by the LAPD's anti-terrorism bureau to identify Muslim enclaves across the city sparked outrage Thursday from some Islamic groups and civil libertarians, who denounced the effort as an exercise in racial and religious profiling.
Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing, who heads the bureau, defended the undertaking as a way to help Muslim communities avoid the influence of those who would radicalize Islamic residents and advocate "violent, ideologically-based extremism."
While some members of the Muslim community in Los Angeles appear to be willing to cooperate in the program, other leaders aren't so sure this is a good idea, and with good reason, given the LAPD's history of racial profiling and political spying.
"We certainly reject this idea completely," said Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. "This stems basically from this presumption that there is homogenized Muslim terrorism that exists among us."
Syed said he is a member of Police Chief William J. Bratton's forum of religious advisors, but had not been told of the community mapping program. "This came as a jolt to me," Syed said.
Hussam Ayloush, who leads the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the mapping "basically turns the LAPD officers into religious political analysts, while their role is to fight crime and enforce the laws." [Emphasis added]
What is also disturbing about this latest plan by the department is the fact that Deuty Chief Downing was called to Washington to testify before Congress on the new program. What he had to say was chilling, and, one assumes, unintentionally revealing of what is actually behind the plan.
During Oct. 30 testimony before Congress, Downing described the program broadly as an attempt to "mitigate radicalization." At that time, he said law enforcement agencies nationwide faced "a vicious, amorphous and unfamiliar adversary on our land." ...
Downing said the effort would not involve spying on neighborhoods. He said it would identify groups, not individuals.
"This has nothing to do with intelligence," he said, comparing it to market research.
But in his congressional testimony, Downing said the LAPD hoped to identify communities that "may be susceptible to violent, ideologically-based extremism and then use a full-spectrum approach guided by an intelligence-led strategy."
Downing told lawmakers the program would "take a deeper look at the history, demographics, language, culture, ethnic breakdown, socioeconomic status and social interactions."
And this is not intelligence gathering? Not profiling?
It's bad enough we have agencies in the federal government illegally listening to our telephone calls and illegal reading our email. Now we have the local wannabes building files on us, just as they did in the '70's and '80's.
George Orwell had it right; he just was off by a few years.
Labels: Terra Terra Terra
posted by Diane at 3:56 AM
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