April 29, 2004 - Well, well. The town of Manalapan, Florida is rolling out system that will take a picture of every car license plate and face of the driver that drives through the town. Once again, citizens will be forced to prove their lack of guilt. But, again, it's our faults for not standing up to this shredding of the Constitution. People are so quick nowadays to blurt out "I didn't do it" when something goes wrong. Maybe those planning to visit Manalapan should call the police ahead of time. "Hi, yes, this is Pat Smith from Atlanta. I'll be in your town tomorrow and I wanted to let you know I'm not a criminal." This sounds absurd, yet that's what all visitors to Manalapan are being subject to. They are assuming Pat Smith is guilty until they run Pat's license plate and face through a database.
I have long been an opponent of the ever-increasing use of cameras to photograph people in a crowd. Think of this. Before September 11, 2001, Several of those terrorists were caught on tape. Two were at an ATM and one was actually pulled over by police! Let's not forget that photograph of Mohammed Atta boarding an airplane at 5:30 am on September 11, 2001. So, what crime did those cameras prevent? Anybody? Surely, Atta and his buddies at the ATM and the traffic stop had to know that they were taped. However, since they were hell-bent on committing a crime, they didn't care. But, Pat Smith of Atlanta wants to drive through Manalapan, well, we better look out for Pat.
Government seems to get a free pass to harass citizens but if suspected terrorists or other foreign nationals on watch lists are caught on tape before they commit any crimes, government gets itself caught up in red tape and excuses. It's a numbers game. Arrest the easy to arrest and don't go after the difficult ones. Those determined to commit crimes are not deterred by Constitution-trampling measures that require the average citizen to prove his innocence.
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