"People are definitely going to notice it," Fernandez said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears."

Deputy Chief Hernandez, you just used the same terminology to describe your new initiative as was used by our government in it's overwhelmingly violent invasion of Iraq. And you say you wish for me not to feel threatened? Apologies for being blunt, but you're fucking dreaming. Constant or near-constant police presence, coupled with random ID checks DOES NOT make me feel comfortable and, in fact, DOES make me feel like my rights are being violated. Such activities are prelude to a police state, in which all activities are scrutinized and no sign is too small to warrant investigation. We've been moving toward this for the past, oh, 6-ish years, and this is a major strike against the society I always thought of as America. It's a travesty, plain and simple.

Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, said the Miami initiative appears aimed at ensuring that people's rights are not violated.

"What we're dealing with is officers on street patrol, which is more effective and more consistent with the Constitution," Simon said. "We'll have to see how it is implemented."

Mr. Simon, you ought to be run out of the ACLU on a rail. As far as I can tell you're saying that you'd rather have the cops publicly scanning us and checking our papers than doing so secretly. Well, I can't disagree, but then, I guess I'd rather be punched in the face than cracked in the back of the head too. 'Course, I'd really rather that not one of those things happen. This statement makes me want to cancel my membership. I'm not talking about simply not renewing... this statement makes me want to call the ACLU and tell them I want a fucking refund. I absolutely cannot see a way to implement random ID checks that aren't an affront to the freedoms I *thought* this nation stood for.

Shameful.

[-k]

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats. "This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It's letting the terrorists know we are out there," Fernandez said.

Random ID checks... Odd that they have the ACLU guy giving that a positive quote.