Come attend Dickson City Council meeting Tuesday, 13 May, 7PM!

[Philadelphia]

Originally Posted by headcase

Did the same person who wrote the sieg heil one write this one? At some point, if anyone wants this issue taken seriously, someone is going to need to proofread these press releases instead of throwing out the first things that pop into their heads. The grammar stinks. The comma goes after the word officers, and complaints are registered with someone, not to someone. The constant Nazi and communist references are better left in the sixties. Say they violated laws, and illegally arrested citizens. Say they acted criminally. But the Nazi, jack boot, Gestapo references make all involved look like radical hippies who are not to be taken seriously. Seriously. The enthusiasm is great, but the delivery is doing more harm than good.

I agree. It can be really easy to be dismissive of any position or argument that falls too far to any one side. I think the key is to get the largest possible number of people to understand and relate to what happened in a way that allows them to see the issue as if it applied directly to them, from the perspective of as if they were in the shoes of those wronged.

What happened was a group of ordinary everday people were having dinner together with their families, doing nothing illegal and nothing even suspicious under the law as confirmed by the highest court of our Commonwealth, when eight police officers arrived, ordered a number of the people to get up from the table and leave their dinners, go somewhere else, present identification, get patted down and searched, and be detained by those officers. They went as far as to handcuff one of the group who identified himself but did not present official identification in a form as demanded by the officers.

They also seized the lawful property of this fellow because they claimed he needed to show proof of ownership of an item he was carrying -- granted the item was a gun, but gun ownership remains lawful in Pennsylvania and there is no doubt that you need not have some official proof of ownership of every item you own or have with you. Imagine if that were the case. Does anyone have proof of ownership of, say, their cellphone or PDA or any other item they might have with them? According to these eight police officers, if you can't come up with proof of ownership of certain items you are beyond question legally carrying with you, they will confiscate those items.

The police did all of this in front of all the other people in the establishment and in front of family members and young children, upsetting the children and embarrasing those illegally detained. The police did all this despite having the law calmly and in detail explained to them by numerous members of the group. The response of the police officers to a calm group of peaceful diners trying to have a rational conversation about what was going on, was contempt and arrogance. The officers ignored discussion of the law as an indication that at that point they really didn't care what the law is.

If this happened to you -- having dinner with friends and family, doing nothing illegal, would you be willing to allow police to disrupt your dinner, demand official identification, search your body, and seize any items you had with you that you could not come up with a receipt for and thus could not, on the spot, prove you owned? Should this incident be ignored by the public? Police have a very difficult job but when a few police view their job as including ignoring the law and detaining law abiding and innocent people with no legal justification, those same police need to be told what their job really is, or find another one. If we allow these police officers to ignore the law and detain people who have done nothing illegal, who is next to be singled out by these same police?

If these events don't concern you, I hope your views are sufficiently popular, or that you make sure you are always are ready to stop, produce official ID and get patted down and searched by the police any time the police feel, without legal justification, that you are doing something they don't happen to like.

There is no question that the only reason I can sleep soundly every night is because I know the police are out there keeping me and my family safe. By the same token, I'd also like to have a peaceful, enjoyable dinner with friends and family without worrying that police will arrive and disrupt that dinner when I am doing nothing illegal, though perhaps unpopular in segments of today's culture.

[Ithaca1937]

I'm a long time lurker and will try to make it. Is there any where specific to meet in or outside of the Old Country Buffet?

[Penguini66]

Originally Posted by Mike

Gun Carry: I expect to attend the council meeting and will be openly carrying a handgun; I also will not be carrying any wallet or identification ("sterile carry")

I'll be there and plan to carry in the same manner. As I said before, I do not plan to speak but will be there for moral support for those that do.

Just for clarification, can anybody elaborate on the "Dickson City Borough Building"? It is not a court house correct? What problems may we run into? My OC experiences have been great so far. Only incident has been being kicked out of a Home Depot.

See some of you at 5:30 for dinner. The rest at the meeting at 6:45. What's the latest count? How many do we expect?

Also, will there be buttons available at the OCB?

[SFMarine]

Maybe we should start a count to see how many people will be present at tonights meeting.

[Mrs. Pa Patriot]

I am wondering if anyone is planning on taking a camcorder tonight to the council meeting. I do have an extra if someone wants to tape. Please PM me. I am probably not going to be able to attend due to a sick little boy.

[Emptymag]

For the love of god, someone PLEASE document this.

(Unless it's "illegal" to do so)

[crakkajakka15]

Yes please document this for those of us that cannot make it tonight....post it up on YouTube!

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Pa Patriot

I am wondering if anyone is planning on taking a camcorder tonight to the council meeting. I do have an extra if someone wants to tape. Please PM me. I am probably not going to be able to attend due to a sick little boy.

I'll have my camcorder, tripod, and digi-cam......All carried in a shoulder holster!!



(Best wishes to the little one......Mom's medicine is the best medicine!)

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Originally Posted by crakkajakka15

DUDE!!!!

That cracks me up! LMAO!!!!

[schr8er2000]

Ya better watch out with the camcorder.. the Police in DC might think its something that ya need a permit for...or will find some way to make THEM illegal too...