posted on July 4, 2001 11:39:13 AM"Besides, he added, on a Ybor City street of restaurants, nightclubs and stores crowded with 20,000 people, "your expectation of privacy is somewhat diminished, anyway."
True. But that is a choice that WE make -- not law enforcement agencies.
I'd sure like to hear all about those who get wrongfully "nabbed" on Tampa's cameras. I doubt that with even our current technology that such a system would be very effective. I wonder what safeguars are in place to prevent the wrong peole from being caught?
You know what the problem is, don't you? It ought to be obvious. Have you noticed, that the longer that you live, the more often you'll see faces of people that you once knew -- only it's not them? I have seen so many of my ex-girlfriends and all of them at the same age as they were then. How many of us have doubles? What if your double was in trouble with the Tampa law and you showed up at a night club there? Wouldn't you be in double-trouble? The police would come there and bend you over a squad car as they do a Rodney King on you right there in front of your children. Some vacation, huh?
posted on July 4, 2001 11:59:33 AM
Speaking of doubles, has anyone ever seen their's, up front and face to face? I did. I was driving along the highway on my way to wherever (long ago, and dont remember the minute details) and this car began to pass me. Casually, I glanced over and the girl in the passenger seat glanced back. Both of us did a double take (pardon the pun) and both our mouths hung open and both of us raised our hands and pointed at each other. Same long hair, same faces staring at each other from the space of one lane to another, on a highway. The driver of her car kept up with mine so we could just stare at each other. Eventually, they sped up and passed me, but not before we laughed and waved at each other.
posted on July 4, 2001 10:54:56 PMHepburn: yes, I have seen my double. In fact, we were in high school together. People often got us mixed up.
It's odd that you should bring having doubles up right now--this evening I came home & found a message on my machine that was from this woman. I have not seen her since high school & suddenly I get a call out of the blue saying she is looking for me & that if I am the same person she went to school with to call her. Unfortunately there was no answer (big surprise on a holiday) and I'll try again tomorrow. So weird to get a call out of the blue from someone you haven't seen for almost 30 years!
posted on July 5, 2001 07:50:40 AM
About ten or fifteen years ago there was an incident in San Diego that demonstrates how dangerous mistaken idenity can be when coupled with a mistake or two..
There were 3 federal marshals in an unmarked car and as they were driving along the one said he had seen a known fugitive walking along the sidewalk. They circled the block and pulled up beside him.
Unfortunatly the man looked very close to the fellow they knew as a fugitive but he was another policeman in town -- as a champion competing in a combat pistol tournament - the sort where they walk through and have to decide to fire or not and engage targets that pop up from various locations in a maze.
I have seen pictures of this fellow engaging a set of 3 pop up man size targets and in the photo 1 cut out is falling back the second is falling at a lesser angle and there are two shell casing hanging in the air about two feet apart frozen by the camera. He is pointing the gun at the third target. The action is open loading a new round and he is holding the trigger down waiting on the gun to close so it can fire. I can't tell you what kind of inhuman reflexes that takes to be faster than the pistol's action.
Still things would have been OK except when the 3 agents spread out and approuched him they had not identified themselves as police.
Then the one made the error of pulling back his coat and putting his hand on the handle of his revolver to draw it before they ID's themselves.
He shot all 3 of them before any of them could draw a weapon clear.
The only saving grace was that he is so good that he could methodically shoot each one to disable without killing any of them.
I think police reacting to the computer warning will put even more unfounded faith in it's accuracy that a eye witness report.
