By: AJ
Why is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) targeting the citizens of North Carolina by installing police surveillance towers in store parking lots since the end of 2009 (and continuing into 2010)?
DHS has done a thorough job of informing us of their “limited resources” and the need to “prioritize.” For example, when it comes to border security, they’ve placed signs in parts of Arizona – where Americans have been victimized and killed – to warn citizens of danger where foreigners enter the state illegally. With their limited resources, this is apparently the best DHS can do to protect American citizens from foreign threats.
Understanding what the DHS tells us about their priorities, it stands to reason that the police towers would only be installed in “priority” crime-filled areas, right?
What do we know about North Carolina’s crime rate?
Stunningly, North Carolina’s 2009 crime rate was the lowest in 25 years. Violent crime dropped by 12.5% and overall crime fell by 8.8%.
The number of murders in 2009 decreased to 1983 levels despite an increase in population of nearly 3.5 million. Aggravated assault was down to 1987 levels. Aside from an uptick in 2004, even robberies were down to 1990 levels. Vehicle thefts were down to 1992 levels.
Why is DHS targeting North Carolina by installing police towers in their neighborhoods if their crime rate decreased so significantly and clearly they’re not the most dangerous state in the nation? Why is *Governor Beverly Perdue (D) permitting this in her state? [see footnote]
Who holds the top spot as the most dangerous state in America?
Nevada, home to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), tops the list as the most dangerous state in the nation. Wouldn’t Nevada be a priority for DHS? Wouldn’t other states with higher crime rates than North Carolina be the target for DHS’ limited resources? What about border security; wouldn’t that be DHS’ top priority?
Citizens of North Carolina deserve answers to these questions. Common sense tells us that there’s no valid reason to expend limited DHS resources in North Carolina when far greater priorities exist.
Let’s not forget that the DHS brought us the “If You See Something, Say Something” program which encourages people to report their neighbors to the government.
DHS also brought us government-sanctioned body searches and naked body scanners which, if done by anyone other than the government, would warrant criminal charges.
Now the DHS brings police surveillance towers into communities to conduct surveillance on ordinary citizens of this country, yet they lack the resources to protect Americans from foreign threats. This is an outrage!
Wake up Congress! Wake up America! We deserve honest answers to reasonable questions regarding the Obama Administration’s blatant violation of our privacy and the 4th Amendment. Freedom is fading faster than ever. If we don’t urge Congress to stop this tyranny, then imagine the America we’re leaving for our children.
It’s a FREEDOM issue.
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* Governor Beverly Perdue (D-NC)
Federal Criminal Investigation:
On October 22, 2010, Perdue revealed that her 2008 campaign is under State and Federal investigation. Authorities are looking into 41 confirmed private flights she took going back to 2005. Her campaign did not report the flights until last year. The State Board of Elections in August fined Perdue’s campaign $30,000 for the flights aboard campaign donors’ planes. The campaign has paid the fine.
Perdue and representatives of her campaign have maintained that there was never any intent to conceal the flights, some of which might have violated state limits on contributions to candidates. Rather, they have said, the campaign had “a flawed system for recording flights,” and the trips weren’t discovered until an audit of campaign records was conducted last year.
Approval rating as Governor:
After an initial peak in popularity after her inauguration, Governor Perdue’s approval rating has dropped, averaging in the low 30’s since June 2009.
There’s no question that “Homeland” has it’s priorities bass-ackwards,but I guess I don’t feel particularly threatened by this “Skywatch” tower seen in the video over in Hickory.
In fact, I think I would feel pretty vulnerable up in that flimsy thing in “civil unrest” situations. It looks like a boondoggle, where seized asset money, federal deficit spending and an elite that really believed its college professors collided with the best intentions of the GOP post 9/11.
That Perdue is as crooked as a dog’s back leg is self-evident. Thankfully, the Republicans are finally taking over the General Assembly in Raleigh next month, really for the first time. (I hope they feel the laser light on the back of their heads, since they are definitely under the gun, whether they comprehend that kind of “surveillance” by the People or not.)
That the Federal Government must secure our borders before a Wal-Mart parking lot in Hickory is also self-evident. But these towers are Maginot Line nonsense, unless it’s really what it appears to be: a local police asset in a high-crime, soft-target area for petty crime, regardless of the source of its funding.
I also don’t see that DHS, as screwed up as it is, has singled out North Carolina for the purpose of Continuity of Government.