"Agitate, agitate, agitate!" -Frederick Douglass
Just a helpful reminder. RT-D:
A 37-year-old Louisa County man appeared to be struggling with a loaded shotgun when he lost control of his car during a high-speed chase with a Louisa sheriff’s deputy.
The man, whose identity has not been released, died Saturday night after his car hit an embankment on state Route 619 in Goochland County, rolled several times and ejected him.
The loaded shotgun was found a few yards from his body.
The 42-year-old pastor of Abyssinia Baptist Church, at 3001 Wickham Ave., in the heart of the troubled Southeast Community, met last year’s surge in shootings with prayer marches, anti-violence rallies and alternative programs to help young people find jobs.
But he believes there is a place for burning, too, especially if the targets are violent games and CDs that he believes turn killing into a game for bored kids.
“We are considering having something similar to a rally where parents and children can bring CDs and video games that they consider are destructive to the mind set of our youth and have a burning, just like they had a gun buyback last year.”
A Fredericksburg police officer and a suspect were killed late last night in a shot-filled incident fueled by the suspect’s apparent obsession with a former girlfriend.
Officer Todd Bahr, 40, a member of the city force for just under two years, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, city police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said.
The suspect, 47-year-old Gregory Berryman, died in a shoot-out with police in the Belmont Apartments parking lot off Cowan Boulevard near the police station.
Bledsoe said Berryman was shot multiple times by city officers after he fired shots at them and an unoccupied police cruiser shortly after 11 p.m.
Police said that after being struck, the suspect put his own gun to his head and fired.
At that time, Bledsoe said, police were unaware that Bahr had been shot. He was found about 15 minutes later near the 2500 block of Manor Court.
[…]
Berryman, whose last known address was in Stafford, was no stranger to city police. He was arrested in September when he entered a home in the 1500 block of Airport Avenue looking for the same former girlfriend.
According to police reports, Berryman was carrying a rifle wrapped in a blanket. He confronted a woman who lived there and ordered her to lead him to the former girlfriend.
At that time, police said the woman had broken up with Berryman several weeks later. She no longer lived at the residence, and the resident told Berryman she didn’t know where she’d moved to.
Berryman was charged with armed breaking and entering, abduction and carrying a concealed weapon.
He was convicted in Fredericksburg General District Court on Oct. 18 of brandishing a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, both misdemeanors, and got two 12-month jail terms, one of which was suspended.
It was not clear this morning when Berryman got out of jail, but defendants generally only have to serve half of active misdemeanor sentences, meaning Berryman could have been freed after six months from his arrest date.
AP:
Starting Saturday night, officers will check drivers’ ID and turn away any who don’t have a “legitimate purpose” in the area – a plan that has drawn swift criticism from civil liberties groups.
“The Constitution and the Bill of Rights should not become the next victim of the street violence,” said Johnny Barnes, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union for the National Capital Area. “This plan will treat every resident of that area the way criminals are treated.”
The checkpoints come as police try to combat a spike in the number of homicides, which rose 7 percent in the city in 2007 after several years of decline.
Uh…haven’t Cathy Lanier and Adrian Fenty been Police Chief and Mayor, respectively, from January 2007 to today? I think I see a correlation here.
And, as I have noted before, guns are illegal in Washington, D.C.
Most of last weekend’s slayings occurred in the 5th Police District in the city’s northeast section, where authorities plan to set up the checkpoints. Already this year, the police district has had 22 killings – one more than in all of 2007.
“The reality is, this is a neighborhood that has been the scene of many violent crimes, and something had to be done,” D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said.
Because your department is too inept to police an area. Do the officers still have the mentality of “we don’t go down to those neighborhoods unless we get called”?
But the initiative has raised the ire of the ACLU, which plans to watch what happens with the checkpoints before deciding on any legal action.
Officers will stop motorists traveling through the main thoroughfare of Trinidad – a neighborhood of mostly tidy two-story brick rowhouses that includes Gallaudet University and is near the National Arboretum.
Police will ask motorists to show proof that they live in the area. If they do not have proof, drivers must explain whether they have a reason to be in the neighborhood, such as a doctor’s appointment or a church visit.
Police will only search cars if they observe the presence of guns or drugs, officials said. Anyone who does not cooperate will be arrested.
[…]
Responding to the threat of a legal challenge, interim D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles cited a similar case involving New York City police, who once stopped motorists in the Bronx at random hours, mostly in the evening, to curtail drive-by shootings, drugs and robberies. Neighborhood residents and commercial vehicles were allowed to pass, while others were turned away.
A federal appeals court ruled in 1996 that those police tactics were constitutional, saying that the checkpoints “were reasonably viewed as an effective mechanism” to reduce drive-by shootings.
In a Supreme Court case from 2000, however, justices struck down random roadblocks used in Indianapolis to screen people for illegal drugs, ruling that they were an unreasonable invasion of privacy. The high court’s majority concluded that law enforcement alone is not a good enough reason to stop innocent motorists.
Wow, nice to see the bloody D.C. Attorney General doesn’t know about Supreme Court precedents.
[…]
“It’s needed and it’s not needed,” said Matthew Simmons, 79, as he sat on the porch outside his rowhouse. Simmons said the checkpoints wouldn’t necessarily deter crime. He said a better solution would be to have more consistent police patrols.
What?! That’s crazy talk!
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area.
Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers’ identification and ask whether they have a “legitimate purpose” to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away.
The Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative is the latest crime-fighting attempt by Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who have been under pressure from residents to stop a recent surge in violence. Last weekend was especially bloody, with seven slayings, including three in the Trinidad area.
But guns are illegal in D.C.! How is this possible?
Some sanity:
“I guess the plan is to hope criminals will not walk into neighborhoods,” said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large). “I also suppose the plan is to take the criminal’s word for it when he or she gives the police a reason for driving into a neighborhood.”
Isn’t there something in the United States Constitution about “freedom of assembly” and whatnot?:
Leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union said yesterday that they will be watching what happens closely and that legal action is likely.
“My reaction is, welcome to Baghdad, D.C.,” said Arthur Spitzer, legal director for the ACLU’s Washington office. “I mean, this is craziness. In this country, you don’t have to show identification or explain to the police why you want to travel down a public street.”
And then there’s the other stupidity that’s come out of her office:
One of Lanier’s plans, the Safe Homes initiative, has yet to get off the ground because of a community backlash. The plan, announced by Lanier and Fenty at a news conference in March, called for police to go door-to-door in crime-ridden areas and ask residents whether they could go inside and search for guns. Residents and some council members voiced concerns that homeowners would feel intimidated by police. Lanier backed off, but said she plans to move forward soon by having residents call police to set up appointments.
The Bush administration has approved the export of sensitive equipment and expertise to China’s military and police forces to bolster security at the Beijing Olympics, according to a number of private and public interviews and documents.
The support includes security and military equipment that is restricted for export under the Export Administration Act, prompting some critics of the policy to question its legality.
The FBI and other U.S. security agencies also are helping China to develop sensitive counterterrorism coordination techniques, such as creating joint security operations and intelligence centers, according to Bush administration defense and national security officials.
The officials said U.S. support to the Beijing Olympics is modeled on the security plan and federal assistance used for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The techniques can be used for surveillance of protesters, including Tibetans, they said.