Police State: Memphis
Posted on April 21st, 2008 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, 4th Amendment, 5th Amendment, asset forfeiture, Bartlett police, check point, Chris Harris, crime, Crittenden County, Department of Homeland Security, Donna Turner, drugs, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, freedom, Hickory Hill, highway, InfoWars.net, law officers, liberty, marijuana, Mark Luttrell, martial law, Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma, police, police state, politics, privacy, raid, road, search ships, Sector Lower Mississippi River, Shelby, Shelby County, Shelby County Sheriff's Office street crimes unit, Sheriff's Department, Tennessee, Tennessee's Homeland Security Center, terrorism, Timothy Martin, Timothy McVeigh, traffic law, U.S. Coast Guard, your rightsTraveling around Memphis, you probably don’t think much about terrorists, but law officers do.
It was front and center stage at a round up Saturday.
Operation Sudden Impact included police, deputies, FBI, drug agents, and even gang units all working together to see how crimes may be linked.
“People committing crimes down in Crittenden County might have some kind of warrant, and we might be looking for them in Shelby County. We in turn feed that information into state police, which can give us a national and international nexus if one exists,” says Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell.
He says terrorists usually have other links and because Memphis is a distribution center, it has to be especially on guard. That includes the waterways.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Memphis was a part of Saturday’s round-up, checking a boat on the river.
“We look at everything, the safety of the tow boat in general. We also check out the crew members, just to make sure there is nobody hiding out on the tow boat, felons, criminals etc.,” says Lt. Timothy Martin of the U.S. Coast Guard in Memphis.
They say sharing information and building relationships is a big step in fighting back against those intent on harm.
The Sheriff’s Department says 332 people were arrested, 142 of whom are were fugitives.
Hundreds of dollars were seized and drugs recovered, and 1,292 traffic violations were handed out.
They are determining if and when they plan another round-up.
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“Not all of this initiative is to arrest people,” said Deputy Chief Donna Turner of the Tipton County Sheriff’s Department.Many agencies put an emphasis on traffic stops. A little after 8 p.m. Saturday in Hickory Hill, Sgt. Chris Harris of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office street crimes unit stopped a white SUV that was booming with music. The driver was driving on a suspended license — he received a citation — and there was marijuana residue in the car, but “not enough to weigh out,” Harris said.
Still, every traffic stop holds the potential of netting much more than expected.
“Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma, was stopped because of a busted tail light,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell.
Todd said he expected Bartlett police to hit more than 50 houses Saturday night and this morning in search of fugitives. Those they didn’t find and arrest, he expected they might apprehend within a few days.
“Some of these people will turn themselves in later once they know we know where they live,” Todd said. “Family members will put pressure on them.”
Lt. Timothy Martin, chief of response for the Coast Guard’s Sector Lower Mississippi River unit, said in recent weeks they have been working with local police and fire departments.
“We’re out there to show that just as the land side is covered by police and the sheriff,” Martin said, “we’re on the water, boarding boats, checking bridges, refineries and power plants.”
All crime-related information will be forwarded to the State of Tennessee’s Homeland Security Center in Nashville to see if there are possible ties to terrorism.
This is not something which hasn’t happened before but it is no less unnerving. A Google News search for “operation sudden impact” results in only 7 hits at the time of writing. Only one seems to be about it before it occurred. Notice how it’s all in the name of catching terrorists yet they go after generic criminals, setup traffic check points and issue tickets for minor traffic violations and search for drugs, board and search ships and businesses. Of course InfoWars.net has their take on it all calling it a preparation for martial law. I have a hard time disagreeing. These events are fairly board in scope and implication yet completely under reported. Given the laws passed in last few years allowing for more and more executive control over all aspects of law the belief that they may in fact utilize such power has only gathered strength.
