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Policing the Pandemic
I have a new piece up over at PJ Media in which I discuss some of the more bizarre incidents of overzealous law enforcement going on across Southern California in the name of keeping us “safe” from the coronavirus. I’m sure members of the Ricochetti across the country can describe similar happenings in their own cities and towns.
I do not discount the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, I am of a sufficiently advanced age to be considered a high-risk patient if I were to contract the disease. But neither do I discount the genuine threat to liberty posed by the various orders, decrees, edicts, and mandates lately imposed by the nation’s governors, mayors, health commissioners, and every other sort of government functionary exercising their newly discovered power to limit the freedom of their fellow citizens. In the case of the people being hassled for watching the sunset, cited above, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department was so proud of this exercise of authority that they made it their pinned tweet on their Twitter account.
Surely the publicity that has attended these enforcement actions will reduce the incidence of surfing, sunset-watching, and paddle boarding up and down the coast of Southern California, but at what cost to the already eroding level of respect for law enforcement? Making matters worse is the decision to grant early release to 3,500 inmates in California so as to avert a coronavirus outbreak in the state’s 35 prisons. That’s right, while ordinarily law-abiding people are rousted by the police for daring to engage in harmless activities so as to avoid going stir crazy, convicted felons are being sprung from prison. Yes, we must release all those burglars, car thieves, and con artists to make room for the expected wave of surfers, paddle boarders, and sunset watchers. One feels safer already.
What galls me most about these crackdowns on people merely trying to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine is that they’re being done while genuine crime goes unaddressed. As always, I welcome the thoughtful comments from members of our little community.
Published in General
did you hear about what happened at In N Out in Pasadena?
A police helicopter flew over them and told people waiting in line to disperse
My favorite so far has been the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department busting a guy for being in a paddle boat by himself on the Pacific Ocean. What I don’t understand is why the LASD didn’t call in the Coast Guard for an assist.
Coasties could use a good laugh.
Before this is over there will be a thousand stories like this.
In my town it’s legal to walk through a park but if you stop for a moment, even if there’s nobody else around, you can get a ticket. It’s madness.
That one is so maddening it’s causing me stress. The guy was alone out on the water, so the police arrested him (putting him into close contact with at least two police officers), took him down to the station (putting him into close contact with who knows how many other police officers), and threw him in holding (putting him into close contact with who knows how many other people).
So … so … so … idiotically … moronically … stupid.
It’s one thing to go on a call when someone who has lawful control and authority over a property has told someone to leave, and they refuse to leave. Police officers should exercise discretion in other cases as cited in the post. Discretion for me would be watching some surfers enjoying themselves for a few minutes, and then leaving the parking lot to do some real proactive police work, you know like looking for real trouble, and real crimes.
trigger warning:
LAPD no longer enforces law. It is now a terrible diversity outreach program.
In the DFW Metroplex, it appears the state troopers have adopted a liberal interpretation of the speed limit. I see cars whizzing by me and past troopers parked in their usual hide spots, at 80mph.
In my opinion, all those wantabe dictators should be sued, for infringing on our rights to be free.
Sensible, rational law enforcement
Here you go:
My son’s afternoon/evening caregiver was stopped at a police checkpoint in Los Angeles. He was asked where he was going at this time of day in the afternoon. He told the officer he was on his way to work and that he was a caregiver to a special needs adult. Asked if he had papers verifying that he was an essential worker, he showed the police officer a text message from the caregiver agency on his phone stating he was an essential worker. The officer took his phone to consult with another officer. He returned the phone and allowed him to go on his way. He was late to work. The officer was not wearing gloves or a mask and there is no way to know whether he had been tested negative for the coronavirus even though he was speaking to my son’s caregiver within the six-foot restriction zone and handled his phone. The officer did not give my son’s caregiver a signed certificate saying that he had been allowed by the police to go to work because he was an essential worker, so odds are he will continue to be stopped on his way to work until this fascist nonsense is over.
I predict a massive number of lawsuits and some civil disobedience actions – like people getting in their cars and overwhelming police checkpoints and blaring their horns.
But if you are an illegal alien you are free to do whatever you want.
bingo especially in California
Petty fascism is the worst kind of fascism.
Insanity and Idiocy. I am reminded of a scene in Solzhenitsyn’s First Circle. Nerzhin is having a nearly miraculous occurrence of a visit with his wife. (You need to know that Gulag rules forbid the naming of prisoners incarcerated with you.) The conversation cannot be too open as it is directly observed by a guard. At one point, Nerzhin’s wife asks a question and he responds:
Nerzhin: “God knows.”
Wife: “Don’t tell me you have begun believing in God!”
Nerzhin: “Newton, Pascal, Einstein…”
Guard: “No names!”
And the visit is violently ended tragically before they can really tell each other what really needs to be said.
This may have been in the L.A. area, but it was not LAPD. They’re not doing checkpoints.
Perhaps another city police force within LA County. I’ll ask my caregiver tomorrow when he shows up.
The checkpoint was in Norwalk.
Aha. Sheriff’s deputies again.
So, LA County Sheriff – Norwalk Station (Division)?
How many Sheriff’s deputies have been tested for COVID-19?
Why aren’t deputies wearing protective gloves and face masks when they confront people?
From Fox News:
The LASO patrols unincorporated areas of the county and the cities that contract for police services. Norwalk is one of those cities.
California Sheriff not wearing a mask or gloves warns that he has the power to fine, arrest people for appearing in public as he does.