Quote :

" HELENA-WEST HELENA, Arkansas (AP) -- Officers armed with military rifles, some with laser sights, have been stopping and questioning passers-by in a neighborhood plagued by violence that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a week. On Tuesday, the Helena-West Helena City Council voted 9-0 to allow police to expand that program into any area of the city, despite a warning from a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas that the police stops were unconstitutional. Police Chief Fred Fielder said the patrols have netted 32 arrests since they began last week in a 10-block neighborhood in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi River long troubled by poverty. The council said those living in the city want the random shootings and drug-fueled violence to stop, no matter the cost. "Now, if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here," Mayor James Valley said. "The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK, and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution." The area under curfew, in what used to be a West Helena neighborhood, sits among abandoned homes and occupied residences in disrepair. White signs on large blue barrels warn those passing by that the area remains under curfew by order of the mayor. The order was scheduled to end at 3 p.m. Tuesday, but Valley said the City Council's vote would allow police to have the same powers across Helena-West Helena. Among the curfew operation's arrests, 10 came from felony charges, including the arrest of two people carrying both drugs and weapons, Fielder said. The police chief said the officers in the field carry military-style M-16 or M-4 rifles, some equipped with laser sights. Other officers carry short-barrel shotguns. Many dealing crack cocaine and marijuana in the city carry pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, he said. "We've had people call us, expressing concern for their children," Fielder said. "They had to sleep on the floor because of stray bullets." Fielder said officers had not arrested anyone for violating the curfew, only questioned people about why they were outside. Those without good answers or those who are acting nervously get additional attention, Fielder said. However, such stops probably violate residents' constitutional rights to freely assemble and protections against unreasonable police searches, said Holly Dickson, a lawyer for the ACLU of Arkansas who addressed the council at its packed Tuesday meeting. Because of that, Dickson said, any convictions coming from the arrests probably would be overturned. "The residents of these high-crime areas are already victims," she said. "They're victims of what are happening in the neighborhoods; they're victims of fear. But for them to be subject to unlawful stops and questioning ... that is not going to ultimately going to help this situation." The council rejected Dickson's claims, at one point asking the Little Rock-based attorney if she'd live in a neighborhood they described as under siege by wild gunfire and gangs. "As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital." The curfew is the second under the mayor's watch since the rival cities of Helena and West Helena merged in 2006. That year, Valley set a nightly citywide curfew after a rash of burglaries and other thefts. Police in Hartford, Connecticut, began enforcing a nightly curfew for youths after recent violence, including a weekend shooting that killed a man and wounded six young people. advertisement Helena-West Helena, with 15,000 residents at the edge of Arkansas' eastern rice fields and farmland, is in one of the nation's poorest regions, trailing even parts of Appalachia in its standard of living. In the curfew area, those inside the homes in the watch area peered out of door cracks Tuesday as police cruisers passed. They closed the doors afterward."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/13/town.curfew.ap/index.html

8/14/2008 12:49:37 AM

Quote :

""As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital.""

along with the curfew this is pretty fucked up. If I want to go back home at 3 or hit up the 24hr McD's drive-thru at 3am I should be able to if I damn well please.

8/14/2008 12:58:36 AM

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" that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK"

well, at least someone's being honest with himself and coming right out and saying it...can't say the same for most people who routinely support the trampling of the Constitution.

8/14/2008 12:59:22 AM

I just think it is sad this city has resources for high end weaponry but has not figured out how to work withing the confines of the law.

I watch at least 3 epsisodes of cops every day and have seen the following reasons used as PC to stop someone and subsequently arrest them for something else.

- Riding a bicycle with no headlight (ordinance)
- Having a cracked window
- Having a cracked tail light
- Running a stop sign
- Being in a park after dark
- Speeding
- Being in a parking lot of a closed business
- Expired Registration
- Being in a high prostitution area driving slowly
- Stopping in a high drug area
- Arguing with someone in public
- Not using a turn signal
- Loitering by abandoned buildings
- Open container violations

None of these things are serious crimes worth giving a rats ass about but the cops use them as a jumping off point for investigating other things (guns, stolen property, warrants, larger amounts of drugs, etc).

I mean with the myriad of city ordinances and laws in affect in most places it is not hard for a cop to find a reason to stop someone who is acting suspiciously. It amazes me that these backwoods idiots have not figured that out yet. Instead of working within the system they have decided to pretty much impose martial law on a whole community just because it is poor and ridden with crime.

gg Arkansas

8/14/2008 1:14:44 AM

sounds pretty serious but so does this

Quote :

"Many dealing crack cocaine and marijuana in the city carry pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, he said. "We've had people call us, expressing concern for their children," Fielder said. "They had to sleep on the floor because of stray bullets.""

8/14/2008 1:17:55 AM

^it is definitely a serious situation, if I were sleeping on the floor due to stray AK bullets I would be riding the cops asses too, but im not sure a 24 hr curfew/checkpoint is the way to do it.

8/14/2008 1:55:28 AM

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"well, at least someone's being honest with himself and coming right out and saying it...can't say the same for most people who routinely support the trampling of the Constitution"

While the honesty is something I suppose you could appreciate, It worries me when people don't even have to pretend they're not pissing on the constitution. If someone's going to gut my rights, I'd like them to at least have the manners to lie about it.

8/14/2008 1:58:26 AM

Quote :

"The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK,"

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Ben Franklin

8/14/2008 2:13:04 AM

OMFG

i was getting ready to post

"cue the beret-wearing comic book store libertarian neckbeard quoting Ben Franklin in 5 .. 4 .."

but alas, you dorks are too fast for me.

8/14/2008 2:34:05 AM

Wow. Act like children and get treated like children. Go figure.

8/14/2008 8:01:57 AM

Picture is worth 1,000 words.

8/14/2008 9:29:43 AM

8/14/2008 9:52:53 AM

I would imagine you would feel alot differently if you are a good citizen living with that shit going on.

On the news alot of locals are happy by this. They said it was a war zone and they were scared. The police are taking out the trash. These things never go on for long, but they are effective. I believe they have done things like this before in other states.

8/14/2008 10:06:19 AM

Quote :

""The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK, and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution.""

8/14/2008 10:27:10 AM

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"...beret-wearing comic book store libertarian "

It's not a beret. I like to call it a "Liberty Hat"

8/14/2008 10:34:33 AM

I'm going to post the same quote twice. You'll see why...

Quote :

"The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK, and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

Quote :

"The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK, and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

seriously?

8/14/2008 8:59:46 PM

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"The police chief said the officers in the field carry military-style M-16 or M-4 rifles, some equipped with laser sights."

That's good reporting.

8/14/2008 9:49:02 PM

To stop a bunch of thugs with guns, they're turning to another group of thugs with guns.

Not a good deal. In any case, the thugs with guns win.

And I fucking hate the way authorities demand to know why you're doing something.

"Why are you out this late, son?"

"What are you doing here?"

People without socially acceptable reasons get further mistreatment.

It's a crock.

8/16/2008 11:06:27 AM

What are you people complaining about? Bush did away with the constitution and the bill of rights so all of this is ok. It helps keeps our streets clean of terrorists.

8/16/2008 12:54:57 PM

i hate to break it to you, but FDR is the one who did away with the Constitution. look it up.

8/16/2008 1:51:19 PM

hate to break it to you but Bush is the one to use it as toilet paper.

8/17/2008 12:28:10 AM

Quote :

"i hate to break it to you, but FDRLincoln is the one who did away with the Constitution. look it up."

[Edited on August 17, 2008 at 12:36 AM. Reason : A]

8/17/2008 12:36:27 AM

i wish more cities had 24 hour curfews

8/17/2008 12:53:38 AM

^^ how do u figure? if anything, Grant and his cronies pissed on it more during reconstruction than Lincoln ever did...

8/17/2008 12:56:48 AM

I'll give you that Grant's sycophant cronies pissed on it and probably had more disrespect for it. That's not the same as actually violating the letter of the thing. Lincoln took more liberties with executive power and did more to ignore the separations and limitations imagined and intended by the founders than any president since Jackson.

If you're going to bring up Lincoln as a someone who'd use the constitution as a kind of sanitary wipe then you can't ignore Jackson. He all but said "fuck off" to the supreme court- the arbiters of constitutional law.

8/17/2008 1:43:07 AM

but was that before or after the SC said "fuck off" to the Constitution w/ Marbury-Madison? :p

8/17/2008 1:50:23 AM