Saying "No" to the Beast

On Sunday night, a helicopter was circling overhead, as has happened so often during the past 20 years. When my son was young, I frequently called the police department to complain. I was always told that they were necessary for police business. I never believed this. I would tell the officer that I was looking out my window as we were talking and nothing was going on in the park below, the park they were supposedly buzzing because of "gang activity." The officer would then tell me that this surveillance was for my own safety--words that should be a tip-off for any citizen that this is not for your safety and that there are other nefarious motives at play. I would usually tell the officer that I would prefer to take my chances with the supposed "bad guys" and get a good night's sleep.

(Consider microchips as an example of something that is touted as "for your safety" and is completely antithetical to your safety, your privacy, and your freedom. Microchips were introduced as a way to locate runaway pets. Who wouldn't want to find one's dearly loved Bowser? When I adopted Rasputin from the pound, I wasn't even told until after the fact that he had been chipped. Of course, if the authorities can find your pet when it's lost, they can certainly locate it when it's not lost--and with you by its side. Microchipping a pet is a means of locating its owner.

(Years ago, the alternative press--though of course not the mainstream press--gave coverage to servicemen who refused to be microchipped. The military had said that chipping would be a way of identifying dead soldiers on the battlefield. Some servicepeople were skeptical. Initial reports of the Oklahoma City bombing said that Timothy McVeigh had complained about the microchipping. Of course, you can put a lot of things on a chip that the recipient may not be comfortable with and may be completely unaware of. Does the Manchurian Candidate ring any bells?

(Then the idea was floated that children and the elderly should be chipped, again, for their safety. You know how children, albeit unsupervised, are always running off, and how senile grandma is a wanderer. Don't you want them to be safe?)

I have read enough about the Orwellian-named Department of Homeland Security to know that a great deal of its funding has gone directly to local and state police. Basically, the federalization of law enforcement nationwide. Instead of focusing on protecting Long Beach citizens and businesses, the LBPD, like police forces around the country, diverts manpower and machinery into doing the bidding of the Feds. I strongly object to this and so I voice my objections, as I did recently.

Once the clerk at the department's internal affairs division, which handles complaints, found out I had questions about Homeland Security, she transferred me to her supervisor, Sgt. Klein. To his credit, he was polite and calm.  I told him that I can understand the use of helicopters if there is a shoot-out or a robbery in progress or something major like that, but I am opposed to police overstepping their bounds, buzzing neighborhoods for no reason. I asked him to check the records and see what was occuring between 11:45 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. in my neighborhood. He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Precisely why there should not have been a helicopter overhead, I said.

I said that the ocean is only six or seven blocks away. Why can't helicopters hover over the ocean between calls? Sgt. Klein claimed that doing so would put them too far away from the action, if they were needed. That is a ridiculous answer, as a helicopter, I'm sure, can travel the distance of six blocks in a few seconds.

I asked about Homeland Security money and if police are surveilling citizens rather than ensuring community safety. I asked him what percentage of the department's operating budget is from Homeland Security. He chuckled and said he couldn't answer that question. Couldn't, wouldn't, or shouldn't? That was unclear.

I again stated that I said I was OK with "legitimate police work" but was opposed to harrassment and surveillance of citizens. I mentioned the incident I had had with two LBPD officers in 2002. They had come to my door to intimidate me because I had a poster in my front window that showed a peace sign and the words "War is not the answer." That sort of harrassment of peace activists has continued under the Obama regime.

Sgt. Klein suggested I bring my concerns to a city council meeting. I wasn't expecting resolution of the matter, only a voicing of my disapproval.

I encourage other citizens to complain to their police departments and other government agencies when their rights and their tax money are abused. The people have power. We the people certainly outnumber the "rulers." Every single citizen can make a difference, can increase people power, by exercising that power. Make a call. Write a letter. Protest. Run for office as an honest and upright candidate. Every such action helps to return power to the citizens, where it belongs.