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California Police Ransacked Public Apartments Without Warrants Under ‘Neighborhood Blitz’ Program
Source: Think Progress
In an invasive, war-like operation known as the Neighborhood Blitz, police officers in Stockton, California illegally searched the apartments of poor minorities and physically disabled people, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday. Under the guise of standard housing inspections, armed officers routinely burst into homes with little to no warning, ransacked the premises without warrants, demanded personal information from tenants that had nothing to do with their homes, and threatened renters with arrests and homelessness.
The nine plaintiffs — all of whom are African American, Hispanic, or disabled — allege the Stockton PD stormed into their Gateway Court apartments and subjected them to unconstitutional searches. Rather than giving tenants 21 days’ notice, per Stockton’s municipal code, police entered the units with less than 24 hours’ notice and often walked in without the permission of the people living there. Lacking warrants, the cops examined mattresses, closets, drawers, and cupboards — throwing the contents on the floor. They also searched plaintiffs’ medications and demanded to see personal documents, including bills and rental papers. Officers would come at any time of day or night — barging in when people were eating or sleeping — and several searches of pregnant women’s apartments were conducted without taking the women’s health into account.
If tenants tried to deny entry or failed to comply with officers’ demands, the police threatened to arrest them, place them in homeless shelters, and shut down the apartments altogether. An armed officer was present during all of the searches.
Ultimately, no arrests were made. But the lawsuit follows a long line of complaints against the police department for its police brutality and racial profiling.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/09/10/3700184/california-police-ransacked-public-apartments-with-no-warrants-or-probable-cause-a-lawsuit-says/
37 replies
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That was just the start. Henry Ford wanted his workers to be model Americans, and to ensure that, he created a division within the Ford Motor Company to keep everyone in line. It was known as the Ford Sociological Department (or the Sociology Department, or the Society Department, really, depending on who you ask. But you get the idea.).
What started out as a team of 50 "Investigators" eventually morphed into a team of 200 people who probed every aspect of their employees lives. And I mean every aspect.
Investigators would show up unannounced at your home, just to make sure it was being kept clean. They'd ask questions that were less appropriate of a car company, than they were for the modern-day CIA. They'd query you about your spending habits, your alcohol consumption, even your marital relationships. They'd ask what you were buying, and they'd check on your children to make sure they were in school.
Women weren't eligible, unless they were single and had to support children. Men weren't eligible unless the only work their wives did was in the home.
They were Henry Ford's personal morality enforcers, making sure that everyone who took one of his paychecks lived up to his standards. Those standards included patriotism and assimilation, especially when it came to language. This wasn't just a wanton disregard for other cultures (though that wasn't not a part of it), but rather a safety issue. In a time of massive amounts of immigration from Europe, all Ford workers had to speak English. On the factory floor, a simple miscommunication could get someone killed.
That was just the start. Henry Ford wanted his workers to be model Americans, and to ensure that, he created a division within the Ford Motor Company to keep everyone in line. It was known as the Ford Sociological Department (or the Sociology Department, or the Society Department, really, depending on who you ask. But you get the idea.).
What started out as a team of 50 "Investigators" eventually morphed into a team of 200 people who probed every aspect of their employees lives. And I mean every aspect.
Investigators would show up unannounced at your home, just to make sure it was being kept clean. They'd ask questions that were less appropriate of a car company, than they were for the modern-day CIA. They'd query you about your spending habits, your alcohol consumption, even your marital relationships. They'd ask what you were buying, and they'd check on your children to make sure they were in school.
Women weren't eligible, unless they were single and had to support children. Men weren't eligible unless the only work their wives did was in the home.
They were Henry Ford's personal morality enforcers, making sure that everyone who took one of his paychecks lived up to his standards. Those standards included patriotism and assimilation, especially when it came to language. This wasn't just a wanton disregard for other cultures (though that wasn't not a part of it), but rather a safety issue. In a time of massive amounts of immigration from Europe, all Ford workers had to speak English. On the factory floor, a simple miscommunication could get someone killed.
http://jalopnik.com/when-henry-fords-benevolent-secret-police-ruled-his-wo-1549625731
That $5 day came with a huge price!
No wonder Diego Rivera included this panel (lower right) in his Detroit Industry Murals:
Notice the shape of the machine works behind the man on the right (a cross between Henry Ford and Thomas Edison).
The amount of money paid out for settlements due to rampant LOE misconduct is literally bankrupting our cities. 
Good for the lawsuit!
