West Palm Beach meets East Germany

Isn't it amazing how in tight economic times a government can still come up with a $1 million program to recruit people to snitch on each other?

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said his proposal is a first-of-its-kind in the nation, and he hopes it will become a model for the rest of the state like his gang prevention and pill-mill units.

“Every single incident, whether it’s Newtown, that movie theater, or the guy who spouts off at work and then goes home and kills his wife and two kids — in every single case, there were people who said they knew ahead of time that there was a problem,” Bradshaw said. “If the neighbor of the mom in Newtown had called somebody, this might have saved 25 kids’ lives.”  ((Remember: it's always 'for the kids.' -- Jemison))

Bradshaw is readying a hotline and is planning public service announcements to encourage local citizens to report their neighbors, friends or family members if they fear they could harm themselves or others.

The goal won’t be to arrest troubled people but to get them help before there’s violence, Bradshaw said. As a side benefit, law enforcement will have needed information to keep a close eye on things.
“We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said. “What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’"

We already have enough half-cocked no-knock raids going on in this country on spurious grounds.  Now our law enforcement wants everyone to go all Stasi on each other?  Really?  In today's society, holding your tongue and being civil isn't all that much in vogue.  I personally dislike the common use of violent terms just to emphasize an opinion, but let's be realistic here.  What are the odds someone will hear a neighbor spouting off about some government official or agency in less-than-Victorian terms?  Have we now decided as a society that saying "I oughta shoot that so-n-so" equals a default presumption of intent?  If so, we're going to need EVEN MORE more holding cells in our increasingly discernment-free, zero-tolerance nation.

Government doesn't need "more information to keep a close eye on things."  It's clear they don't know what to do with what they already have.  This campaign to turn neighbors on each other is merely a way to divide-and-rule.  It will institutionalize what our police forces are being taught by the SPLC and others: that the real enemy is those who lack unthinking loyalty to Der Staat Uber Alles.