Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site persci.UUCP
Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tikal!cholula!persci!bill
From: bill@persci.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.politics
Subject: Re: Report your neighbor for fun and profit
Message-ID: <442@persci.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Nov-85 16:28:20 EST
Article-I.D.: persci.442
Posted: Tue Nov  5 16:28:20 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 8-Nov-85 08:49:20 EST
References: <787@terak.UUCP> <351@madvax.UUCP> <335@aoa.UUCP>
Reply-To: bill@persci.UUCP (William Swan)
Lines: 37
Xref: lsuc net.legal:1371 net.politics:1879

In article <335@aoa.UUCP> carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft) writes:
>>> One of the commonly depicted facets of a "police state" [...]
>>Add the Child Abuse Hotlines, where the reporter can remain anonymous [...]
>Please go flame yourself and save me the effort. 
>Why the hell can't you take a minute to see what IS happening rather than
>what you THINK (and I use the word loosely) might happen.
>Example: Boston, MA had "Drop A Dime" program to take anonymous calls
>on drug trafficking. Over 3 years, several thousand calls led to over
>700 convictions. There is NO record of factititous calls . [...]

Well reasoned flame, Carl...

Except for your numbers. Several thousand calls and only 700 convictions?
What about all the rest of the calls? What about all those found to be
"not guilty" (never "innocent")? Were *all* of these just honest mistakes??
Come on, now!

As for "what you THINK might happen":
Here in Washington State, they don't have anonymous lines, yet innocent
people are still caught in it. Once you are in the system it is not a 
matter of them saying "Oh, we goofed! So sorry!" and dropping it. In case
you are unaware of it, these agencies get federal funding on the basis
of "body-counts". It is to their best interest to convict each and every
victim that falls into their hands. This leads to long and *expensive*
legal fights for the victim. The agencies, because they are presumed to
not have a "side", hold all the cards. They get access to the child, not
the parents. They get access to all the records, not the parents. We know
of one case here recently where a case-worker was caught falsifying the
evidence (she was coaching the child to say incriminating things against
the parents). The case was thrown out of court, but the case-worker didn't
even get so much as a slap on the wrist, and is still working to convict
others by any means possible.

-- 
William Swan  {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill
"Ask not what you can do for your country,
   ask what your country is going to do to you!"