How Rose parade policing subverted the Constitution "in the spirit of homeland security"

In response to the Dec. 31st article 'Rose Parade attendees surrender 4th Amendment rights in bizzare police squad program', herin lies the analysis of a review of Pasadena, CA Police Department's 'Parade Watch' program.

The original review, which documents and endorses the methods used in establishing the Pasadena Police Department's Rose Parade Watch program in 2001,  is posted on the website of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, which describes its' mission as 'to advance the concept and practice of problem-oriented policing in open and democratic societies'. [Note: Please see DemocracyIsNotFreedom.com to learn what the founders thought about 'democracy'].

In the document, dated April 30, 2002, Pasadena Police Chief Bernard K. Melekian, under the letterhead of Police Executive Research Forum, accepts the department's nomination for the "Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing".  [See past winners of the award here. Wikipedia notes that Herman Goldstein's 1979 essay Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach.]

The Pasadena program is then reviewed in a summary entitled  'PARADE WATCH - Deterring Terrorism at the Rose Parade'.

Despite the public's fear and clamor for security less than three months after the attacks of 9/11/01, the Pasadena Police Department's own admissions concede that random warrantless searches of vehicles on the parade route, which they sought to justfiy, would not hold up to legal or constitutional scrutiny.

What followed was a desperately contrived and ultimately successful attempt to get the people to willingly surrender their privacy and fourth amendment protections.

Page 5 of the pdf report mentions "Legal constraints - Police event planners researched legal sourcebooks and consulted attorneys about the legal basis on which police might search recreational vehicles in view of an unspecified terrorist threat. Absent probable cause, police needed to rely on RV owners' consent to search their vehicles."

Page 11 of the report deferred to the official government version of the "The Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building" and refers to "News reports" regarding the degree of damage that a single vehicle bomb can purportedly incur, but does not mention dozens of actual news reports from Oklahoma City proving that multiple bombs were found planted inside the Oklahoma building that day.  Brigadier General Benton K. Partin, a military explosives expert who spent 31 years in the U.S. Air Force, debunks the official government version of Oklahoma City, in Alex Jones blockbuster film 9/11:Road to Tyranny. Oklahoma Police Sergeant Terrance Yeakey, an award winning officer who was the first on scene at Oklahoma City,  warned his ex-wife "it’s not what they are saying it was” and was later found murdered in a gruesome crime scene that was attributed by 'officials' as 'suicide'. The public's general belief in government's account of such events bears long-standing results. Muhammed Abdullah, a former U.S. Marine and licensed security officer, nearly had a restraining order filed against him last year because the Pomona Police department claimed they were afraid of him. A police employee in that hearing testified regarding her "knowledge of incidents at Oklahoma City" in part to justify her position.  (Dr. Kevin Barret Interviewed Abdullah on 10/24/09 regarding a DHS raid on his home,, audio archive can be found here.)

 The Parade Watch report admits that Pasadena police "conferred with advisors from the U.S. Marine Corps, California National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other agencies", and that if a terrorist attack were to occur at the parade route, that "the local ice rink may be large enough to serve as a temporary morgue".

Expanding on the police attempts to justify searches, the report states "Regarding legal prohibitions, Event Planning Section officials consulted the Pasadena City Attorney, a District Attorney, and private attorneys to determine how the Police Department could lawfully search recreational vehicles that parked in proximity to the parade route. Federal and state search and seizure law clearly prohibited searches of motor homes without probable cause. The possibility, or even the likelihood of a terrorist
using a vehicle containing explosives, absent specificity, did not constitute probable cause to search.
Legal restrictions notwithstanding, an informal Departmental policy posed a significant barrier to searching recreational vehicles......Conducting what could appear to be arbitrary searches of recreational vehicles, for whatever reason, would certainly diminish the public's enjoyment and affection for the venerable Rose Parade."

Despite this prohibition limiting searches, the report goes on to acknowledge the arrogant police end-run around the 4th Amendment: "In December police staff decided that recreational vehicles parked along the parade route would be subject to search."

The report then outlines how 'volunteers' sought to convince attendees to willingly agree to be searched, despite lack of probable cause:

"The staff explained that the volunteers were to report any suspicious behavior to police. Their primary function was to ask recreational vehicle owners parked along the parade route for their cooperation in
signing a consent form agreeing to a vehicle search. Compliant recreational vehicle
owners received a commemorative United We Stand decal to put on their windshield. The decal alerted passing police officers that the recreational vehicle occupants had consented to a search. The volunteers also asked the occupants to help ensure parade safety by calling the police department to report suspicious activity, including recreational vehicles parked without the police-issued decal."

So despite the police prohibition on demanding warrantless searches, they instructed attendees to call police on those who did not concede to a warrantless search! They then say that if a person did not willingly consent to an unconstitutional warrantless search, their vehicles would be towed away!! This is classical despotic tyranny:

"the team made random checks of the areas, walking the dogs past countless parked recreational vehicles to see if the dog alerted to the presence of explosives. None of the dogs did. .... The volunteers kept logs to record names, vehicles, and demographic information of each recreational vehicle owner contacted. If the vehicle owners argued with the volunteers or refused to sign, volunteers were not to try to coerce people to sign. Instead volunteers were to call for an officer who would answer any questions. Ultimately, if the owners did not sign, police were prepared to ask the person to leave, or, as a last resort, tow the vehicle away."

The report outlines that through use of these tactics, the police met their objective. Two out of 700 RV owners refused to sign the form, but were later persuaded by police requests:

"The Pasadena Police Department never found it necessary to search any of the recreational vehicles. The willingness of the vehicle owners to allow police to search, along with a lack of reason for police to believe that a search was necessary, assured us that under these circumstances, the department had met its objective .... Out of nearly 700 recreational vehicles contacted, only two owners initially declined to comply. Both later cooperated with police requests. Not one RV needed to be towed from the parade route."

The report then outlines how the "mass media embraced Parade Watch and gave it favorable coverage nationally and locally. Community leaders appreciated the positive publicity the city received from Parade Watch and promised future support for similar efforts."

Parade Watch staff later called random respondents who had signed the consent forms and asked them a series of questions, with 92% of them agreeing  "Law enforcement created a safe environment for Rose Parade attendees" and "While attending this year's Rose Parade the police made me feel safe."

The text of the form that RV owners were handed consisted of the following. Note the misleading lie that claimed 'vehicles may be subject to search' simply on the basis that they were parked near the parade, despite the fact that police had already been refused that infringement by their own legal advisors:

"December 26, 2001 Greetings, In the spirit of homeland security, the Pasadena Police Department is
asking for your support in ensuring the safety of all those who come to see the parade. Vehicles parked within one block of the parade route may be subject to search. In appreciation for your compliance, the Department would like to provide you with a commemorative decal to place on the lower left windshield of your parked vehicle. This will allow officers in passing police cars to know that you are cooperating with our efforts toward public safety. We also ask that you be the eyes and ears of the Police Department by reporting any suspicious people or vehicles to us at (626) 744-4501. Thank you for helping to make this a safe and memorable parade. BERNARD K. MELEKIAN Chief of Police Tournament of Roses 2002"

People in New York in Times Square were randomly searched during 2010 new years festivities.

I will end with some of my favorite quotes for you to ponder. Happy New Year!

"The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it." -John Hay (1872)

"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground" -Frederick Douglass (1857)

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it". -Daniel Webster

"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." Ephesians 6:12.