I’m torn.
On the one hand, I am adamantly opposed to the racial profiling that has come along with Stop & Frisk, and I also question the necessity of such an invasive practice.
But on the other, it does not bother me to think that police are keeping extensive tabs on people. I am VERY much in favor of increased security. In fact, I think that there are times when the police have to be aggressive–and today is one of those times. The ways in which people can become threats to society today are absolutely staggering given advents in technology and the black market economy. You never can be too careful. There was a movie a while back called Minority Report. It is set years in the future and the plot sees criminals arrested before they even commit their crimes, on the basis of their premeditation of said crimes. Can you imagine the implications?! How many people are taken into custody but get off easy because there are no grounds on which to convict them, only to go and commit a crime at the first chance?
I do think that the police should be exercising more restraint in targeting and ultimately frisking the individuals in question. But I think everybody has to be watched, no matter how innocuous they may seem. It’s scary, but it’s a reality of the world in which we live.
