• Police Chiefs Endorse Anti-Terror Community Watch
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[QUOTE]DENVER – A store clerk's curiosity about why Najibullah Zazi was buying large quantities of beauty supply products indicated that something about the transaction wasn't quite right — and it's an example of the kind of citizen vigilance that can combat terror, a police commander said Saturday. Los Angeles police Cmdr. Joan McNamara cited this summer's incident as police chiefs meeting in Denver adopted a model for a nationwide community watch program that teaches people what behavior is truly suspicious and encourages them to report it to police. Federal authorities allege Zazi, 24, tried to make a homemade explosive using ingredients from beauty supplies purchased at Denver-area stores. He has been jailed in New York on charges of conspiracy to detonate a weapon of mass destruction in a plot that may have targeted New York City. Zazi has denied the charges. Zazi reportedly told an inquisitive clerk he needed a large amount of cosmetic chemicals because he had "lots of girlfriends." While his purchases weren't reported to authorities because suppliers often buy large quantities, the police chiefs hope a coordinated publicity effort will make people think differently about such encounters. Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton, who developed the iWatch program with McNamara, called it the 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch. The Major Cities Chiefs Association, headed by Bratton and composed of the chiefs of the 63 largest police departments in the U.S. and Canada, endorsed iWatch at the group's conference Saturday. iWatch would have provided an easy way for that Colorado store clerk and others to report suspicious activity so police could launch investigations earlier, McNamara said. "That clerk had a gut instinct that something wasn't right," she said. Using brochures, public service announcements and meetings with community groups, iWatch is designed to deliver concrete advice on how the public can follow the oft-repeated post-Sept. 11 recommendation, "If you see something, say something." Program materials list nine types of suspicious behavior that should compel people to call police, and 12 kinds of places to look for it. Among the indicators: _If you smell chemicals or other fumes. _If you see someone wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the season. _If you see strangers asking about building security. _If you see someone purchasing supplies or equipment that could be used to make bombs. The important places to watch include government buildings, mass gatherings, schools and public transportation. The program also is designed to ease reporting by providing a toll-free number and Web page the public can use to alert authorities. Los Angeles put up its Web site this weekend. "It's really just commonsense types of things," Bratton said, adding that his department is providing technical assistance to other agencies that want to adopt the program. But American Civil Liberties Union policy counsel Mike German, a former FBI agent who worked on terrorism cases, said the indicators are all relatively common behaviors. He suspects people will fall back on personal biases and stereotypes of what a terrorist looks like when deciding to report someone to the police. "That just plays into the negative elements of society and doesn't really help the situation," German said. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration proposed enlisting postal carriers, gas and electric company workers, telephone repairmen and other workers with access to private homes in a program to report suspicious behavior to the FBI. Privacy advocates condemned this as too intrusive, and the plan was dropped. Bratton and McNamara said privacy and civil liberties protections are built into this program. "We're not asking people to spy on their neighbors," McNamara said. If someone reports something based on race or ethnicity, the police will not accept the report, and someone will explain to the caller why that is not an indicator of suspicious behavior, McNamara said. The iWatch program isn't the first to list possible indicators of suspicious behavior. Some cities, like Miami, have offered a public list of seven signs of possible terrorism. Federal agencies also have put out various lists. Other efforts encourage the public and law enforcement to report such signs through dozens of state-run "fusion centers" across the country. One such center, the Colorado Information Analysis Center, has a form on its Web site to report suspicious activity. Bratton hopes the iWatch program becomes as successful and as well known as the Smokey Bear campaign to prevent wildfires. "There he is with his Smokey the Bear hat, similarly here, we hope that this program, even though it's in its birthing stages right now, in a few years will become that well known to the American public." [/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091003/ap_on_re_us/us_community_watch_terror[/url] I find this kind of funny. You can get reported for buying beauty supplies for your girlfriends now. And then there's the fact if you're "wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the season". I've seen lots of people do this, so it's basically, "If you don't [i]look[/i] right, then you're a terrorist!"
Wow that's stupid. He's middle eastern, and buys beauty supplies. [B]TERRORIST!!![/B]
Not long before they encourage kids to turn their parents in as thought crimin--, ah, I mean terrorists.
Oh no I have bad acne I need to buy a hydrogen peroxide-based skin care product............ QUICK! SOMEONE CALL THE FBI! I'M A FUCKING TERRORIST MAKING A BOMB!
i am at a gas station i smell fuel [B]terrorists oh noes[/B]
OK guys as of now I am on the watch for terror
[QUOTE=TH89;17649304]OK guys as of now I am on the watch for terror[/QUOTE] thank god someone we can trust with this type of thing
As if we have rights.
[QUOTE=McSanchez;17648649]Wow that's stupid. He's middle eastern, and buys beauty supplies. [B]TERRORIST!!![/B][/QUOTE] You never know, he could make a bomb with lipstick and some mascara :downs: [QUOTE=TH89;17649304]OK guys as of now I am on the watch for terror[/QUOTE] But Terror is watching you.
[quote]iWatch [/quote] apple is funding this program it seems
To all of you who are calling racism, the only people who do things like this are Middle Eastern. We gave them chances, and the blew us up.
[QUOTE=lulzbocks;17650766]To all of you who are calling racism, the only people who do things like this are Middle Eastern. We gave them chances, and the blew us up.[/QUOTE] Yes, every single Middle Eastern person has bombed us in some form. This whole terrorism thing is out of hand. I don't see why people can't make bombs for recreation. We should have that freedom.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;17650831]I don't see why people can't make bombs for recreation.[/QUOTE] :wtc:
Reminds me of: [img]http://originalhoopla.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/marijuana_propaganda_poster1.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=lulzbocks;17650871]:wtc:[/QUOTE] I can own as many guns as I want, why can't I make a bomb? [editline]01:42AM[/editline] Maybe I own a farm and want to blow up an old barn I want to get rid of.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;17651029] Maybe I own a farm and want to blow up an old barn I want to get rid of.[/QUOTE] thats the spirit maybe i have a wife and want to blow up an old wife i want to get rid of
[QUOTE=thisispain;17651071]thats the spirit maybe i have a wife and want to blow up an old wife i want to get rid of[/QUOTE] You can shoot a wife with a rifle, but you can't knock down a barn with one.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;17651097]You can shoot a wife with a rifle, but you can't knock down a barn with one.[/QUOTE] shoot my wife how barbaric i was simply suggesting i'd blow her up, what you are suggesting is inhumane
[QUOTE=thisispain;17651120]shoot my wife how barbaric i was simply suggesting i'd blow her up, what you are suggesting is inhumane[/QUOTE] ehehe
This is doubleplusgood! now what of the proles?
Nazi Germany anyone?
I thought I was reading the Onion.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17648636]Source: [url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091003/ap_on_re_us/us_community_watch_terror[/url] I find this kind of funny. You can get reported for buying beauty supplies for your girlfriends now. And then there's the fact if you're "wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the season". I've seen lots of people do this, so it's basically, "If you don't [i]look[/i] right, then you're a terrorist!"[/QUOTE] That's why I buy [i]everything[/i] with cash. Buying the wrong products in the wrong combinations(beauty products, farming supplies, cleaning products) with any card can get you on a terror watch list. [QUOTE=thisispain;17651120]shoot my wife how barbaric i was simply suggesting i'd blow her up, what you are suggesting is inhumane[/QUOTE] And what you are suggesting is horribly messy. I mean seriously, if you blow up your wife how is any cleaning going to get done?
[QUOTE=yawmwen;17651829] And what you are suggesting is horribly messy. I mean seriously, if you blow up your wife how is any cleaning going to get done?[/QUOTE] simple get a new wife
[quote]If you see someone purchasing supplies or equipment that could be used to make bombs.[/quote] So if anyone buys any sort of object that can hold a liquid they're a terrorist.
[QUOTE=markg06;17652070]So if anyone buys any sort of object that can hold a liquid they're a terrorist.[/QUOTE] Or if someone buys fertilizer for their garden, or bleach for their bathroom.
I saw a sign in town that said to call a special advice line if you see any suspicious activity, and had a picture of a woman in a burka taking a close up photo of a surveillance camera I was quite gobsmacked
[QUOTE=yawmwen;17652157]Or if someone buys fertilizer for their garden, or bleach for their bathroom.[/QUOTE] Do your parents have fertilizer and bleach?! Report them to the police straight away they're obviously terrorist suppliers.
Nazi Germany anyone?
[img]http://www.dusa.dundee.ac.uk/lip/images/shows/g_98_99/The%20Crucible%20Cover.gif[/img] Came to mind.
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