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