"See Something, Say Something"

[Dreamstalker]

(not sure if this would be better suited in Social Woes or Politics)

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/07/140234...all-of-america

This is part of the 'see something, say something' initiatives that have popped up all over the place (Boston has one; from what I can figure it hasn't actually accomplished anything of note).

The Mall of America has its own 'anti-terror' department, gathering intel on what they see as suspicious...huge files were created on a man who left his cell phone in the food court, someone carrying a backpack, etc. The paper reports they displayed on the TV segment were full of phrases like "walking nervously", "glancing around", "writing notes"....WTF?

There don't seem to be any guidelines as to what's actually suspicious and what's just within the normal range of people being people. Part of me can't believe that the Bloomington PD is giving this any credence at all, but part of me sadly can.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The paper reports they displayed on the TV segment were full of phrases like "walking nervously", "glancing around", "writing notes"....WTF?

There don't seem to be any guidelines as to what's actually suspicious and what's just within the normal range of people being people. Part of me can't believe that the Bloomington PD is giving this any credence at all, but part of me sadly can.

I'v been pulled aside for walking suspiciously (I have a blown knee and wear a brace), a local woman is suing for being detained and having her notebook that has her gift ideas for family members confiscated.

Yes, a note book that has a Christmas-themed cover and is filled with things like "[toy] is very popular, if he doesn't have one by Christmas should get one for him" and "Despicable Me is on Blu-Ray, Mom loved that movie and would go well with the Blu-ray player that Dad just bought" was deemed to be of suspicious intent.

So now there is yet another reason to do my shopping online and to avoid the @#$%ing malls and the @#$%ing Christmas shoppers.

Call me weird, but I'm not willing to have a hand go up my ass (body cavity search) just because I can't decide which of the three things I'm looking at would be the perfect gift for my wife.

[Racket_Man]

this goes along with a thread I started back in Dec of 2010 about Homeland Security encouraging the orginary citizens to report anything "suspisious" to a Wal-Mart manager.

Gomers of the world being vigilant at Wally World.

again how far is too far and too vigilant????

Yes I understand left behind items and such, but again what is "suspisious behavior" and how far do we take it??? what are the guidelines and the limits??? obviously no one has thought this out properly. JUST DO and worry about the fallout later.

[Gravekeeper]

Up here it was "Report the supsicious, not the strange" during the Olympics. Which is a rather important distinction me thinks. The ad campaign was kinda funny. ;p

[Dreamstalker]

I was followed through a Best Buy in a local mall once because...I was wearing winter clothing (walked from the subway stop rather than drive like most of the well-off shoppers). Screw that. If I'm going to be detained for writing down gift ideas...

The SSSS (huh, same acronym that designates extra searches at the airport) ad campaign encourages commuters to text about suspicious activity...but not only is there a question about what's actually suspicious (what do you expect from the city that flipped out about some LED promo signs?), cell service in the tunnels is questionable at best.

I watched the TLC show "Mall Cops" (about Mall of America) once or twice out of boredom...banning kids for wearing hoodies? I think the reasoning for that was "person was obscuring their face". Seriously? A Ghostbusters fan group that had been invited to the mall by a store for a game launch was forced to leave because they were in full costume...someone thought the prop packs could be "bombs".

[Andara Bledin]

And this sort of bullshit will continue as long as the sheeple are willing to trade their (and our) freedoms for a false sense of security and a bunch of useless and wasteful feel-good maneuvers from politicos looking to get re-elected.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

I'm fine with people being vigilant and reporting suspicious activity. That kind of thing is seriously important out here especially. But back home, people kinda go overboard on it. Not everyone is a terrorist. Gotta stop acting like it.

[mikoyan29]

Some of you may know that I'm a photographer. There are three things that I really like to take pictures of: planes, trains and ships. To someone being a little too vigilant, that could be interpretted as casing a joint for future terrorist activities. Number 4 on that list is buildings and people have been questioned for taking pictures of buildings (especially landmarks).

[Gravekeeper]

My favourite part is that anyone actually plotting anything could find all the pictures and information they could ever need off Google anyway. No one would seriously hang around the place snapping photographs.

[Dreamstalker]

Millions of tourists every year take pictures of buildings. If that's such a big concern we might as well shut down the tourism industry nationwide.

I've even seen tourists snapping pics of themselves on the subway, which is 'technically' illegal (not precisely sure why) but one of those things where unless a transit cop sees it nothing can be done.

After this whole security-theater shit started, I proposed a video project to one of my teachers that involved my recording a 'first-person' view of my subway commute (note that I was NOT going to be narrating where I was nor bothering the driver in any way, and I knew how to avoid taping anyone who didn't want to be taped). We had to write up proposals detailing exactly what/where I was going to be taping and why...still couldn't get permission from the MBTA (or DHS..why the hell were they involved?). Now if I was walking the tunnels sure I could see the concerns, but on the subway itself?

mikoyan, one of the MBTA yards nearby has a car from the old 'A' subway line rotting on a siding. I've been trying since April to get permission to just get a photo of it...

[Andara Bledin]

Security theater - for nobody's entertainment.

^-.-^

[mikoyan29]

I can understand the need for vigilance but as with anything else in life, too much can be a bad thing. It ends up tying up already stretched resources on wild goose chases.

[smileyeagle1021]

I have a thing for bridges, and I can see why someone might think some guy taking pictures of bridges is suspicious... but come on people, if I really wanted to take down a bridge, I don't need pictures of it... just a large amount of explosives and common sense on where to park the U-Haul truck.
If the WTC attacks have taught us anything, it should be that terrorists aren't stupid, they will find ways around trivial restrictions that do nothing to provide security.

[Rageaholic]

I remember seeing something like this when I went to New York. There was a sign warning people to report suspicious activity. I don't think it's a bad idea in theory, but as shown by this article, some people get too carried away.

[Amanita]

I saw some "See something, say something" posters at the Golden Gate Bridge..but those showed specific things, like bags left unattended on the bridge.