Citizens in the United States have enjoyed the lawful recognition of fundamental human rights for most of the American Republic’s history. In Paragould, Arkansas, those days just ended. Officials in the crime-riddled town have announced new law enforcement policies that many are describing as martial law.

The Paragould Daily Press is reporting that the mayor and local police plan to launch a new law enforcement strategy for 2013 that involves equipping all officers with SWAT body armor, instructing police to open carry AR-15 rifles everywhere, and requiring all citizens to submit to ID checks when walking in public. Citizens in Paragould will soon be living in conditions similar to those in Afghanistan if these policies are not reversed.

High Crime Rates Used by Officials to Justify Martial Law

Armed task force to patrol streets

Police chief says citizens could be subject to ID checks

In response to a recent increase in crime, Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill and Police Chief Todd Stovall offered residents at a town hall meeting Thursday night at West View Baptist Church what could be considered an extreme solution — armed officers patrolling the streets on foot.

Stovall told the group of almost 40 residents that beginning in 2013, the department would deploy a new street crimes unit to high crime areas on foot to take back the streets.

"[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going to stop you, ask why you're out walking, check for your ID."

http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2012/12/15/top_story/doc50cbbb312e241511092932.txt

"[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going to stop you, ask why you're out walking, check for your ID."

^^^ Don't go there; it'll make you dizzy. Worst newspaper web site evah.

No wonder the town is so poorly informed.

Stovall said he did not consult an attorney before announcing his plans to combat crime.

Paragould patrols

A statement released Dec. 21 by Paragould Police Chief Todd Stovall suggests that his department may be backing away from its earlier hard-line — and almost certainly unconstitutional — plan that would have allowed officers on patrol in SWAT fatigues and carrying assault rifles to demand the ID of people on the street and arrest anyone who failed to comply. Stovall now says officers will only stop people when there is "reasonable suspicion to believe criminal activity is happening."

:::snip:::

In the statement released Dec. 21, titled "Community Policing Clarification," Stovall dialed back his rhetoric even further, saying the Paragould PD is "committed to combating crime and insuring public safety without violating citizens' constitutional rights." Stovall said that while the department would be putting more officers on the east side of Paragould, which would necessarily "increase the number of police-citizen encounters," those encounters, Stovall said, would be done "within the bounds of the Constitution."

Looks like the policy is walking back.



More here.,http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/paragould-patrols/Content?oid=2588126

The original Paragould website jumps around because the image slideshow has slides of different dimensions and the page doesn't fix the size of the box. If you pause the slide show, it stops hopping.

Is it too cynical of me to immediately assume that the least white part of Paragould is the east side?

See W4's reported stats above. This appears to be a lily-white town. Assessing the census numbers, it has only about nine or ten African-American residents plus a smattering of mixed-race, etc.