Anaheim’s Grab for Police Power
Anyone who has lived through the Nazi persecutions shudders at a reminder of such unqualified police power over individuals as the Anaheim Police Assn. now, in 1996, requests.
It is asking of the U.S. Congress the right to stop anyone, any time, under the rubric of “probable cause” and demand, “Show me your papers,” if Congress were to respond to the police request that illegal entry into the United States be declared a felony.
Harald Martin, treasurer for the police association, declares in his June 30 letter that the use of “probable cause” would make their job easier by “lessening our civil liability.” A very ingenuous statement. No restrictions, even, about accosting only those wearing a star; anyone whose skin color or perhaps Asian or Hispanic ethnicity would be fair game. A very frightening request indeed.
MAXINE ANDERSON-GREFE
Laguna Beach
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