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Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:39:42 -0400
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Subject: Re: [LML] Re: beware, you may be searched!
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From: Bob Rickard <r.rickard@rcginc-us.com>
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Hamid-

As the guy who was searched upon landing, I can assure you that what you sur=
mise is incorrect.  First of all, if you were at your home airport and saw a=
 guy that looked like a guy, etc...who would you call - customs and border p=
atrol?  I think not.  Probably the local police, maybe the FBI if you were f=
eeling brash. Additionally, why would CBP have any jurisdiction whatsoever o=
n a flight that started and ended well inside the US border?   Are they trac=
king families in RV's traveling from Phoenix to St. Louis too?  Thirdly, on t=
he wild assumption that anyone was present, surveilling me, and convinced en=
ough to assume I was carrying a male fugitive (which was the accusation from=
 CBP, even though my wife was the only passenger), the local or federal auth=
orities would certainly have not let me take off or even get in an airplane.=
  The fact is there was no local tip.  As it was, the CBP office contacted t=
he local police 10 minutes prior to my filed landing time (a 4 hour flight) =
 and faxed them the bogus info, with no other awareness of my flight other t=
han my flight plan data.   And CBP certainly does not have persons who trave=
l inside our own borders searching people out like this on a whim, else we m=
ight have turned into the soviet union.  So the fact remains that they are t=
otally caught in a lie, and we should try to do something about it as a comm=
unity.  I would agree with your point in principle if there were not mitigat=
ing circumstances, but it's pretty clear in this case.

Bob R


On Apr 26, 2011, at 7:37 PM, Hamid Wasti <hwasti@lm50.com> wrote:

> vtailjeff@aol.com wrote:
>> How would a Federal CBP officer in California know a Lancair pilot taking=
 off from an airport in Phoenix had a fugitive onboard? Answer -- he didn't-=
- he just made it up to justify an unlawful search to the local police in St=
. Louis.
> While the story being totally made up is quite possible, do not discount t=
he possibility that the CBP may be acting on a tip and may have initiated th=
e action.
>=20
> One of the down sides of the increased emphasis on recruiting the general p=
ublic as the government's eyes and ears and offering rewards is a lot more f=
alse and misleading tips. While many of these are offered in good faith by p=
eople who do not know any better, some are offered on the slim chance of sco=
ring a reward.
>=20
> It often starts out as "That guy I caught a glimpse of 100 yards away may l=
ook like the one they showed on TV last night" followed either by "Better ca=
ll it in and let the police make sure" or "Better call it in because in the r=
emote chance I am right it will get me $$$$$"=20
> When the police get involved, their primary objective is self preservation=
. The officer that handles the report knows that if it turns out that a vigi=
lant citizen turned in a wanted person but he is the one who did not follow i=
t up, his career is over.  He will therefore pass it up the chain with only m=
inimal investigation and the process will repeat a few times till the case f=
alls in the lap of the officers that meet the aircraft after landing.
>=20
> At every step that the information gets passed from one person to another,=
 it gets embellished to justify the escalation, so that what started out as "=
Did the guy glimpsed from 100 yards away look like the picture I saw on 23:0=
0 news as I was dozing off?" turns into "Person was positively identified ge=
tting into the aircraft armed with a dozen rifles and 2,000 pounds of drugs"=

>=20
> But the truth in these specific incident will never be known unless someon=
e actually get charged with something or someone is willing to file a civil s=
uit and fight it to the point of getting into the discovery process.
>=20
> Regards,
>=20
> Hamid
>=20
> --
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