Thank goodness for the department of Homeland Security

[Chairboy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR2006021602066.html?sub=AR

The "Tin badge" syndrome is well established, as the article demonstrates.

[Hangtime]

feed us the relevant copy.. article won't open for me.

[Saintaw]

Policing Porn Is Not Part of Job Description
Montgomery Homeland Security Officers Reassigned After Library Incident

By Cameron W. Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 2006; Page B08

Two uniformed men strolled into the main room of the Little Falls library in Bethesda one day last week and demanded the attention of all patrons using the computers. Then they made their announcement: The viewing of Internet pornography was forbidden.

The men looked stern and wore baseball caps emblazoned with the words "Homeland Security." The bizarre scene unfolded Feb. 9, leaving some residents confused and forcing county officials to explain how employees assigned to protect county buildings against terrorists came to see it as their job to police the viewing of pornography.


After the two men made their announcement, one of them challenged an Internet user's choice of viewing material and asked him to step outside, according to a witness. A librarian intervened, and the two men went into the library's work area to discuss the matter. A police officer arrived. In the end, no one had to step outside except the uniformed men.

They were officers of the security division of Montgomery County's Homeland Security Department, an unarmed force that patrols about 300 county buildings -- but is not responsible for enforcing obscenity laws.

In the post-9/11 era, even suburban counties have homeland security departments. Montgomery County will not specify how many officers are in the department's security division, citing security reasons. Its annual budget, including salaries, is $3.6 million.

Later that afternoon, Montgomery County's chief administrative officer, Bruce Romer, issued a statement calling the incident "unfortunate" and "regrettable" -- two words that bureaucrats often deploy when things have gone awry. He said the officers had been reassigned to other duties.

Romer said the officers believed they were enforcing the county's sexual harassment policy but "overstepped their authority" and had to be reminded that Montgomery "supports the rights of patrons to view the materials of their choice."

The sexual harassment policy forbids the "display of offensive or obscene printed or visual material." But in a library, which is both a public arena and a county workplace, the U.S. Constitution trumps Montgomery's rules.

At most public libraries in the Washington area, an adult can view pornography on a library computer more or less unfettered. Montgomery asks customers to be considerate of others when viewing Web sites. If others are put off, librarians will provide the viewer of the offending material with a "privacy screen."

Fairfax County forbids library use of the Internet to view child pornography or obscene materials or to engage in gambling or fraud. But Fairfax library spokeswoman Lois Kirkpatrick said, "Librarians are not legally empowered to determine obscenity."

D.C. library spokeswoman Monica Lewis said the system is working on guidelines for Internet use, but she added that recessed computer screens generally ensure patrons their privacy.

Although many library systems in the United States use filtering software, the D.C. and Fairfax systems do not, and Montgomery uses such software only on computers available to children. Leslie Burger, president-elect of the American Library Association, said the reality is that "libraries are not the hotbed of looking at porn sites."

Still, Montgomery plans to train its homeland security officers "so they fully understand library policy and its consistency with residents' First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution," Romer said in his statement.

[Hangtime]

gestapo.

fear pandering created it; now we have it...

gestapo.

anbody feel any safer now?

[Nilsen]

Should reduce un-employment tho. I'm sure the real police that has been well trained just loves to see some boys in caps "helping" them too.

Im sure the real german police in the mid-late 30's was just as happy when they got help from some fine young boys of the politcal party.

yes yes.. i know that is taking it more than abit far, but Hangitme got me going

[Hangtime]

this is serious doo-doo.

the thought police is curising librarys in podunk, big brother is listening and the administration AND both houses of congress are functionally corrupt.

if iwas europe, i'd be waiting with nervous anticpation for our demand for the sudatenland back.

Homeland! Homland Uber Alles!

[Nilsen]

[Fishu]

Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Bus.. Führer!

[Gunthr]

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  

... the incident with these two yokels sounds like a supervisory problem to me, or a case of inadequate hiring/retention or poor training.  These two prettythangholes should be fired.  They shouldn't be in librarys, except for a security matter.

But we still need an agency that is responsible for the security of the country.  (and I'm not refering to an org in the United Arab Emirates )

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Gunthr
But we still need an agency that is responsible for the security of the country.  (and I'm not refering to an org in the United Arab Emirates )

Is the police, NSA, CIA, FBI and the military not enough to secure the country?

Just asking.

[Gunthr]

Those agencies have different functions, although they sometimes overlap.  I don't think it is wise to have one huge fat agency responsible for everything.  In fact, I'm sure that it isn't wise.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Gunthr
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  

... the incident with these two yokels sounds like a supervisory problem to me, or a case of inadequate hiring/retention or poor training.  
 

Wouldn't matter what this admin did, gunther. If the sh^%tcanned Homeland Security tomorrow, the lefties in this country would be whining that they ain't doing enough.

[Staga]

LOL that sounds more like a prank made by someone with too much time on his hands

[VOR]

Originally posted by Staga
LOL that sounds more like a prank made by someone with too much time on his hands

Agree. This is pure Barney Fife, not George Orwell. The idiots were dealt with. It looks like freedom is intact for another day. No need to activate the KISS army or those fat guys in fatigues that hang out at gunshows passing out literature yet.

[lazs2]

nobody set those guys car on fire while they were in there?

lazs