PunkAssBlog.com

I wonder at what point a country accumulates enough of the markers—surveillance, botched elections, out-of-control law enforcement, and so on—that citizens and government alike can just shrug their shoulders and say, “Yep, we’re living in a police state. Can someone please liberate us now?”

The U.S. is pretty well there, I think. Check out this story from DCist. Hey D.C., guess what? You’re getting checkpoints!

D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.

Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.

As most of the people randomly detained and abused at these checkpoints will no doubt be some combination of poor and black, the modest proposal to turn D.C .into a militarized zone is unlikely to raise much ire, though reasonable people, including the chairman of the D.C. police union, the ACLU, and the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, have all called this plan what it is: “breathtaking” and “cockamamie.”

Alas, I fail to be surprised, particularly in a country currently holding 26,000 people in secret prisons without trial. But, you know, freest country in the world, right?

Here’s the other thing. These people have not read their Jane Jacobs. I mean, it’s obvious because the sorts of people who want to put checkpoints and surveillance cameras everywhere are not the sort of people who read Jane Jacobs. But one of the things she argued, and she was absolutely correct, was that more pedestrian traffic = safer streets. That’s obvious when you think about it. Where would you rather walk around at night: a lively, active, well-lit city street, or a suburban park? Neighbourhood checkpoints will reduce foot traffic to people who can demonstrate that they have a “reason” to be there, making the streets emptier and therefore a better location to commit crimes. Of course, this isn’t so much about making a poor area of town “safer” as it is about policing the freedom of movement of U.S. uncitizens, but you won’t catch any of the plan’s advocates saying that in public.

Hat tip: symbioid.