Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jun 1999
Date: 06/07/1999
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Author: J. Asbury
Authors: J. Asbury

I have a new motto for our state. "Welcome to Wisconsin. We're a
police state."

Many years ago, when I was in high school, one of my teachers pointed
out that in the Soviet Union, the people could not travel freely
within their own country. Now, here in Wisconsin, before you hit the
road, you had better be careful because the police can stop and search
you for any reason, or no reason at all.

The June 4 article failed to inform us of the specifics of the profile
the police are using to identify autos that they believe are carrying
drugs. Were drugs found in any of the vehicles that were stopped and
searched? Was anyone arrested?

What crime wave has prompted the police in five southeastern Wisconsin
counties to feel it necessary to blockade public highways? When do
they begin stopping and searching the passenger trains as the enter
the state? When do the police begin searching people departing
aircraft arriving from Chicago or Minneapolis? Where does it end? When
do we put up a fence with guard towers between Wisconsin and Illinois?

It seems that, little by little, the noose of the police state
tightens around the necks of the people of Wisconsin and our freedom
is taken from us. When will the people stand and fight the forces that
seek to enslave us?

Welcome to Wisconsin. It's a police state.

J. Asbury
Milwaukee