Can the folks sue the cops for anything? I hope so. These kids are gonna be screwed up and fearing the cops as they get older. How will that play out? Not good, I think.

Same thing happened to my brother 30 years ago in rural Vermont. He was stopped for car theft. Theft of his own car.

My brother had reported it stolen six months earlier, and it was recovered. But the recovery never made it into the database. Routine check of the plate? "STOLEN."

Had him up against the car for frisking. Frisker pats him down, comes upon something dangerous at my brother's knee. "WHAT'S THAT?" the cop asked. "My prosthesis," says my brother. "YOUR WHAT?" The other cop calmly says, "He means his wooden leg."

These things happen. I approached a police scene one night with my pickup truck and trailer. Not wanting to cause trouble, and not wanting to have to turn around in tight quarters, I remained at a respectful distance. OOPS, WRONG ACTION. One cop was motioning with his flashlight, which he occasionally shined right into my face, for me to drive forwards. I didn't move my truck as he requested because I had no idea of what he wanted. He finally walked back to where I was. incensed that I had made him walk that far. He said I could be arrested for failure to obey a police officer. Apparently, according to a police chief I spoke to months later, the cops feel that anyone who hangs back from a checkpoint (oh, THAT'S what it was!) has something to hide and is about to turn (a truck and horse trailer?) and run.

These things happen. Cops have a difficult job, and may have to make split-second decisions based on very little evidence.

A grandma and her 8-year old kid? Did I read that right?

That's insane.

I will certainly avoid visiting the Air Force museum in Dayton, and seriously think about going on any military base for any reason.
If what you say is true, Susanne, wonder what the screw up was to provoke this LEO behavior?

Were mom and junior wandering around inside a restricted area of the base, you bet your butt, the SP's (base cops) did what they were trained to do. But to detain them in this manner without asking questions... wandering around a parking lot... looking at license plates... well...

The museum is supposed to be a PR device between the Civ and Mil sides, kinda like the Thunderbirds, etc., to show the military in a positive light... what it ended up being was good PR on how you should expect to be treated when stopped by our now-militarized federalized Homeland-security Oriented Law Enforcement in the future... a lesson those very young kids will remember for a long long time.

Just a side note. I go on and off mil bases as part of my job. When you go on base, they get your license and registration. As such, the "It came back stolen" had to have been a CYA move to cover a major screwup, trying to whitewash why proper proedures weren't followed. a "License, Registration, and Proof of Insurance" stop by the cop when they left would have sorted that out immediately. The cops (assuming the SP's per the actions they made the civillians take) overreacted to a non-issue.

Robbie...you're too lenient. It's stupidity, and can't be fixed. Except in rare cases. Ask Ron "can't fix stupid" White.
By the actions of the DOJ and the administration, the LEO community has been given the green light to go bananas and ignore whatever common sense they might have.

Who let the dogs out? That´s the question, in an Orson Wells kinda mood. And to think this couldn´t happen, when we´ve been harrassed at airports ever since 9/11. "The War On Terror" was a perfect excuse to introduce big brother policies and run over civil rights. Nothing new really, since then "asalamaleikum" was code for terrorists and "ala u akbar" meant "he´s got a bomb", before "sayonara" meant "you´re gonna die", "bonjour" "invasion" and well, I don´t know any cherokee but you get the picture.

Remember that senator that persecuted people for plausible communism as a social desease? Shhh, don´t mention his name should anyone become devote to his tactics again. Fear is the perfect excuse for repression, and this has always been the case everywhere. Thank God in Him We Trust...

What an accomplishment- scaring the bejesus out of a grandmother and two small kids for looking at license plates. This shit has to be stopped and soon!

Right its not one person. BO is the current spokesman for a hundred year-old agenda to destroy Individual Rights and take down America at the same time.

This went to the wrong place, sorry all.

Actually Fred, I think I messed up. In any event, I agree with your post. They need better training and that does not mean combat training. Which is what they get now.

The summer camp I participate in deals with numerous LEOs from FBI down to beat cops. We spend a lot of time talking about the training they get and it is all combat stuff, right off the streets of Bagdad. Homeland security does most of the training these days, supplies materials and even equipment.

If we continue to train our police for war, that's how they are going to act on our streets. I don't think that's the right way. There are things allowed in war by the military that are totally against our legal system. A combatant in a land far away who can tell me where a minefield is before my men walk into it does not have a 5th amendment right - and I don't want him to. I want to know what he knows before my men are killed.

Actually Fred, I think I messed up. In any event, I agree with your post. They need better training and that does not mean combat training. Which is what they get now.

The summer camp I participate in deals with numerous LEOs from FBI down to beat cops. We spend a lot of time talking about the training they get and it is all combat stuff, right off the streets of Bagdad. Homeland security does most of the training these days, supplies materials and even equipment.

If we continue to train our police for war, that's how they are going to act on our streets. I don't think that's the right way. There are things allowed in war by the military that are totally against our legal system. A combatant in a land far away who can tell me where a minefield is before my men walk into it does not have a 5th amendment right - and I don't want him to. I want to know what he knows before my men are killed.

There is video of BO saying it. Bush was accused but without proof. I think BO not only said it, he's been building it. The only thing he's built

Hi Fred, I agree with everything you said and please note that I said nothing about the IQ of law enforcement officers. My point was exclusively that they don't apply the mind before the glock. That leads to survival in a war zone - been there, survived and came home. But at home dealing with old folks and little kids, not a good idea.

I'm not a cop basher and the things I complain about are NOT because I got a ticket this week, because I haven't had any in a long time. My last ticket was in 1982, I'm a member of the sheriff's Posey and have been on many ride-alongs. I also thrown a couple police appreciation whole hog cookouts that always include some shooting on my range with some guns few have ever seen. I'm far from a LEO basher but there are a number of recent events that are problematic for police everywhere.

Wish you the best my friend.
Larry

I heard the exact same claim about President Bush, that even low level authorities were being militarized by initiatives and direction coming straight from the top. I really don't think it's true. The problem is very real, but the idea that one person is responsible is not true.

Its funny, the hospital in Idiocracy is probably a fairly accurate representation of the medical system after a couple hundred years of Obomb-ya-care. No doctors left, and it doesn't seem to be very affordable.

Here, this one goes in your mouth, this one in your ear, and this one in your butt. **Uncooperative beeping from diagnostic machine**
Ooop, wait a minute, this one, rrrr, no this one, goes in your mouth, and this one..."

"Don't worry scro, there's plenty of tards out there living kick-ass lives. My ex-wife was 'tarded; she's a pilot now..."

Wuut? Yuo lik muney to? We shoold totaly hang out sum tim. ;-)

Well known fact: police officers aren't hired for their IQ's.

The computer and their "manual for interfacing with the public" lists felony stops first. They had to wait until the computer told them to let granny go. Utilizing their M1 brain to figure out that there was no crime was beyond their ability and training.

Some police have a tough job, but museum guards are not an example.
Simply controlling the situation and getting license/registration would've defused the entire scenario.
This behavior is that of a bully and coward. Very undesirable, sometimes found among police.

I_IR1776 is right on. I wonder how many remember what the flunkie in the white house said. these types of incidence are becoming more common. there will be a day in time that the police who function without thought to the actions will become the beneficiary of attacking the wrong person. as I have said before on the site we are no longer a government of the people, etc. I do hope this family will be able to get a large measure of restitution.

So whatever happened to actually walking up to the vehicle and taking a look inside? Maybe asking them what they were doing?

Common sense needs to get a new name, because it is all too UNcommon anymore...