Nearly every day, people react to something suspecious

I tried to find a pun for your typo, but couldn't... suffice it to say that thanks to you I looked up the word specious... and that I learned something new today

 

I like the one I read over a week ago guy has fake bomb he robs a bank they catch him. Then call the bomb squad they come and blow it up.
Now how did the blow up a fake bomb they said it was fake. ??? Or why would they just to play is all I can figure.

 

I guess I'm not as outraged as most here about this incident. Of course it's sad, but we live in a world where merely DRAWING a gun - I mean with pen on paper, not from a holster - can get you thrown out of school. In that world, a kid brings a device to school that looks just like every time-bomb you've seen on TV. It's sad that several people could not quickly realize it was exactly what he said it was, and defuse the situation (Hah! a pun) but the question of wether it is "real" or not is irrelevant - to the right group of a morons it represents a bomb. The good intentions are irrelevant, as we all know the offended person gets to define what is offensive, not the creator of the "offensive" content. He's a smart kid - he should have known better.

What is outrageous is the escalation of this event to involve law enforcement instead of just the petty tyrants in the school, and then the "arrest first, figure it out later" approach taken by law enforcement. I mean, they admit to arresting this kid without knowing any crime had been committed!

 

they admit to arresting this kid without knowing any crime had been committed!

The article says the kid was arrested, but goes on to only say he was questioned, detained and fingerprinted. As far as I can tell, there was no arrest.

 

The article says the kid was arrested, but goes on to only say he was questioned, detained and fingerprinted. As far as I can tell, there was no arrest.

fingerprinted? is that even legal without a formal accusation ?

 

fingerprinted? is that even legal without a formal accusation ?

See title of this thread.

 

Once the police detain you in any way from your daily activities, you are effectively under arrest. I see him wearing cuffs in a photo - definitely under arrest. But he hopefully was not charged.

 

The article says the kid was arrested, but goes on to only say he was questioned, detained and fingerprinted. As far as I can tell, there was no arrest.

My understanding is there were handcuffs involved. Perhaps we have a difference of opinion about what being arrested is? If you get a free trip to the police station that is also a good definition.

My definition of arrested is restrained, which covers both hand cuffs and a trip to the police station.

 

Once the police detain you in any way from your daily activities, you are effectively under arrest. I see him wearing cuffs in a photo - definitely under arrest.

Being detained doesn't necessarily lead to being arrested; it's usually done for the safety of the police officer.

 

Again, if you are detained, you are arrested from going anywhere. The rest is semantics. In this case the kid (a minor) was handcuffed and fingerprinted, which is now on file. Whether they call it arrest is just a formality in my book, it is definitely on record.

 

Being detained doesn't necessarily lead to being arrested; it's usually done for the safety of the police officer.

I agree. If that was the standard, then people are arrested every day without knowing if they are guilty of a crime. And thus, there is nothing special about this case. Handcuffing might seem over the top, but it's most likely standard procedure and for the officer's safety.

 

The police wanted to get him to say something incriminating so the charge of a 'hoax bomb' would stick. So they used the tried and true tactic of keeping him isolated and asking the same question 50 times long after they knew it was just a clock (I see no information anyone thought it was a real bomb) and they would look foolish to most people for the arrest and interrogation if no charges were filed. Rule #1 if you are arrested or detained, give them the needed ID information and then SAY NOTHING ELSE (double important if you are innocent) until you have legal representation.

 

Particularly in this day and age, I don't blame the police for being extra cautious about things like this. If they didn't thoroughly investigate this incident, they would be hung up to dry later on if things went south with this young lad.

The boy made an unfortunate choice for a project box for his clock. His project appears very similar to an attache case bomb trainer device that I saw in a museum a few years back; I think it was the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, Ohio. An attache case with a built-in clock would be VERY suspicious.

Law enforcement officers aka LEOs are trained to enforce laws. They were uncertain if any laws were being broken by the device the young man built. A call to a bomb squad team member with a description of the clock and it's "project box" would've sent up red flags all over the place.

While a typical LEO is trained in laws and how to enforce them, they are not specifically trained in electronics any more than how to operate radios and the like. Determining if a suspicious device might be a bomb, or not a bomb, would require a trained specialist - ordinance isn't for lay persons.

While I am not, nor have ever been in Law Enforcement, I can appreciate that they have a very difficult job to do. What I DON'T do is try to "armchair quarterback" them; I'm not a LEO, and none of us knows the complete situation - thus, to comment on their performance/actions is not very appropriate. They face the very real possibility of death in myriad ways every day; you have to give them the benefit of the doubt that they followed their procedures.

If they did not follow proper procedures, they would have very short careers.

 

Ahmed never claimed his device was anything but a clock, said police spokesman James McLellan. And police have no reason to think it was dangerous. But officers still didn’t believe Ahmed was giving them the whole story.

“We have no information that he claimed it was a bomb,” McLellan said. “He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation.”

Asked what broader explanation the boy could have given, the spokesman explained:

“It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?”
...
The mayor later amended her post, acknowledging that she would be “very upset” had the same thing happened to her own child.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/comm...e?hootPostID=532c3696eb235a3f481ed45f733e6d90

I take them at their word.

 

Never underestimate the ignorance of the average educator or police official about anything electronic.
If it's homemade and has illuminated numbers and looks like the bomb igniters they show on crime shows and movies (never mind that real bombs likely don't even have such a display) then it must be a bomb.

And of course, there was no bomb material along with the electronics but that's not significant either.

 

there was no bomb material along with the electronics but that's not significant either.

Maybe they're thinking that electronics alone makes half a bomb

 

I am glad I don't live in Texas. This incident has only re-enforced my low opinion of the place...

 

It's not just Texas, it's the culture of fear. It's a case of the fear of everything.

This child was arrested because the adults were stupid.
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_war_on_the.html

Of course, by then it's too late for the authorities to admit that they made a mistake and overreacted, that a sane voice of reason at some level should have prevailed. What follows is the parade of police and elected officials praising each other for doing a great job, and prosecuting the poor victim -- the person who was different in the first place -- for having the temerity to try to trick them.
...
Equally important, politicians need to stop praising and promoting the officers who get it wrong. And everyone needs to stop castigating, and prosecuting, the victims just because they embarrassed the police by their innocence.

 

There appears to be a hole in the story. Ahmed said he brought it in to show his engineering instructor, which he did. Why didn't the principle call the engineering instructor and ask him what he thought of it. It would have taken 2 minutes. Or did I miss something? Anyway, there is so much STUPIDITY to this story there has to be a level not being said.

Oh yea, the sign about Prop 65 in California is on pretty much everything in California that contains lead even if it is not eatable, like engine blocks, electronic components, exercise matts, and headsets........

 

Clever Lads!