Linkmeister

Truckers into Smokeys?

This smacks more of Stalinist Russia than the United States of America; a DOJ program called TIPS hopes to enlist ordinary citizens in its attempts to thwart terrorism. Sounds fine in theory, but the practice could easily devolve into a nation of informants. So says the WashPost in a Friday editorial. (Thanks to Michele for posting something about this).

Here's the only public information currently available, if the Post can be believed:

"Operation TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity." Further: "Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected.

"Operation TIPS, involving 1 million workers in the pilot stage, will be a national reporting system that allows these workers, whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious activity. Every participant in this new program will be given an Operation TIPS information sticker to be affixed to the cab of their vehicle or placed in some other public location so that the toll-free reporting number is readily available.

"Everywhere in America, a concerned worker can call a toll-free number and be connected directly to a hotline routing calls to the proper law enforcement agency or other responder organizations when appropriate."

That's it, folks. That's the entire content of government-provided information about this new program. Turn in your neighbor now.

Posted by Linkmeister at July 15, 2002 04:38 PM