I Am the Law!

In Capitalism Will Devour Itself I discussed the unfortunate circumstance of my credit card information being stolen. I decided that I should press charges. My local police station was the first place I went to file a complaint. I waited for about 20 minutes before being brought into an interview room. The officer asked where my bank was. I told her the name of the town and she stated (several times) that this was out of their jurisdiction and that I must go to the police department for the town my bank's main office was located. Without questioning further, I drove to that town. When I arrived in the alternate police station I was greeted with disdain. When I entered the building I approached a large bullet proof glass partition with a buzzer for service. No one manned the desk behind the glass. A police officer was at a nearby desk, leaning back in his chair watching television. He lazily looked at me, looked back at his television and then back at me. He was clearly peeved that he had to get up out of his chair. When he finally made it to the partition I told him why I was there. He stopped me, asked where I lived and told me that my local police station had to handle this complaint. I told him that I was just there and they had sent me to him. He asserted that I was at the wrong place and I asked, "What do I do if they try to send me back to him?" His response; "Insist".

I have to admit that I was angry, frustrated and not liking the police at that point. I understand why we have law enforcement. I would not want to be without it. I have met several policemen and women who are nice people, who take their job seriously, and bring honor to the uniform. There are also officers who are, for lack of a better term, pigs. These thugs who mask their brutality and crimes within the law, bending it to their whims like a reed in the wind, give the police a bad name. I do not have a problem with law enforcement, but I do take umbrage with pigs. "I am the law!" has been stated to me with authoritative tones by many pigs throughout my life. Their assertion is not true. The police department and each officer of the law is just that; a civil servant enforcing laws. The police are not the law, nor are they above it. Likewise, they cannot create laws. Local, State and Federal legislation is all written and voted on by elected officials. City ordinances are written by the selectmen and women elected each term. The police can only enforce the law within the confines of the law. Never forget this fact.

I left that station and called my local police. I told them what had just transpired and I was told to go to their web site, download and complete a "lengthy and in-depth" Identity Theft report and bring that to them. I went to the website for the Abington police and could not locate the form. My view on this is that neither police station wants to bother with doing the paperwork. I was pushed away when I needed help. When I insisted, as I was instructed to do, I was basically told to do the paperwork myself. I was also told over the phone that identity theft happens all the time and that there are little resources for extradition, especially for a mere larceny. I actually received more help and information from one of the vendors who had a fraudulent purchase blocked by my bank. Their fraud department told me that the IP address was in Texas but that was a proxy and that the source was coming from Southeast Asia. Additionally, this person had my name, address and phone number along with my credit card number, expiration date and security code. The perpetrator could have hacked my computer or the databanks, not only from online vendors but from "brick and mortar" companies. I was told that if we had a separate credit card for each company we traded with, then we could more easily pinpoint security leaks. Imagine how many credit cards one would have if that were the case. Some people would have hundreds. I would probably have about 30 or 40. This young man actually helped me with that information. I have decided to write a letter to the Attorney General for help and contact my local FBI office to report the international crime. I know that I will never find out who did this to me, but the more we come forward, the more we will be forced to do things differently. For one, security with electronic trades can be somewhat achieved. Each transaction can be traced, for the most part. If people exist who can create complex arrays of proxies to cover up their online crimes, then we must also have people who can untangle those webs and setup network security that block them from being built.

I am sure that we will find a solution to identity theft and that it will cost us a lot of money since it will be sold to us, as all things are. Yet, the problem with law enforcement is another issue entirely. Currently, every city, town and county have ambiguous laws such as Disturbing the Peace, Loitering, Vagrancy and so on. These were created to allow local law enforcement to circumvent State, Federal and Constitutional law as deemed necessary to uphold community standards. Who determines these community standards? Usually the more wealthy citizens of a town, local business owners and the elected officials. In some cases, the dominate church will dictate community standards as well. The later being the few times that the middle class and poor citizens have any say in such matters. Consequentially, certain groups of teens cannot hangout at the local park (unless they are the elites, such as jocks or wealthy kids). This falls under the guise of loitering, even though the park exists specifically for that purpose. Likewise, a person cannot wander into town without having enough money for lodging without being accused of vagrancy. The worst one is disturbing the peace. If I cough, that is disturbing the peace. If I form a protest rally, that can be construed as disturbing the peace. If I march in a Veterans day parade without a permit holding an anti-war sign, that can be construed as disturbing the peace. Any manner one can think of concerning communication, protest, civil disobedience, even travel can be construed as disturbing the peace. This is too vague, purposefully so. For one, if you are not part of the elite crowds, your disturbance will be punished. If I go to a town hall meeting and express an opinion counter to popular (elite) views or votes, I can be removed by an officer of the law, spend time in a holding cell or issued a ticket for a monetary sum. This violates our rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If a group of citizens hold a political rally in the park, we can be attacked by the police under the guise of disturbing the peace. The First Amendment guarantees the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The despicable side of this is when pigs use these ambiguous laws to not only violate the rights of citizens (and a homeless person is a citizen too) but to brutalize and subjugate them. How many pigs throughout America were affiliated with racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan? More to the point, how many of those pigs arrested, beat, tortured and even murdered blacks, hispanics, asians and Native American Indians using such laws? The answer is more than is actually recorded, more than we will ever know. I am white and I am still occasionally rousted by the police. At 42 I am sick of routine checks and trumped up charges. My last ticket was for tailgating. Yes, technically I was tailgating as was everyone else on the highway. I traveled a very long route through two towns to get to that highway. I was behind a State Trooper for most of that time. On the highway he ghosted my car as I tried to get past someone who kept slowing down and speeding up. When I was pulled over the pig began yelling at me. He then accused me of tailgating him prior to getting on the highway. Believe me when I say, if I am behind a police car I keep my distance. This cop was not only yelling at me when I was cooperating, he was also bearing false witness. He lied, either intentionally because he believed he could with impunity or because his perception was altered by his apparent anger. When I am confronted by the police, I find it best to be polite and cooperative. Usually, the officer will respond in kind. However, when dealing with a pig one cannot do anything right. The pig will bust you for whatever reason he can.

A routine stop begins with me giving the officer my license and registration. In the instances when I am stopped on the street, just my identification is taken. The cop will run my license to see if I have out-standing warrants. This is what is known in the legal business as a fishing expedition and is a violation of one's Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized" (Jefferson, 1789). However, this is an obstacle for a pig so they will cite the probable cause clause without necessarily defining what their suspicions are. Heaven help you if you question a pig when being rousted. Tread lightly if this is the path that you choose. If no warrants are outstanding, the pig will then search you, your baggage and (when applicable) your vehicle. I have been harassed, threatened, handcuffed, and fined all as tactics to elicit information or to see if the pigs can find any reason at all to arrest me. Apparently, I fit some sort of profile or simply look guilty. However, there is no law dictating how one must look. Some people say I look vaguely Spanish or Italian. I am black-Irish, German, Anglo Saxon and Blackfoot Sioux. Mutt is the best way to describe me. I am angered by the violations of my rights, yet I must keep this in contrast. There are some true bastards out there who commit violent acts of brutality against kids between 10 and 25 years of age. These pigs carry on the tradition of police brutality against minorities as if the civil rights movement never took place. Homosexuals have it even worse.

This nation is at a crucial stage where we could very easily destroy ourselves. Consider another megalomaniacal sociopath like George W. Bush taking office when we have barely put the pieces back together and strengthen our national identity. Suppose Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin sleaze their way into the Oval Office and wreak their special brand of havoc. Extrapolate that with the civil unrest of rising food costs, dwindling social programs, rising unemployment and underemployment levels, as well as stagnant or decreasing wages. Civil unrest is inevitable should we choose to either ignore these issues or continue to pour salt on that festering wound. How will law enforcement respond? More directly, how will the pig react? We all know the answer. History will repeat itself. The murders at Kent State and a few other colleges will pale in comparison to the bloodletting we will witness. Unless we act now to punish the pigs who give police officers a bad name.

References

Jefferson, T. (1789). Amendment IV. (1789). Bill of rights.