5 ms·

There is speculation [1] that the federal officers deployed to Portland include not only government employees, but also private security contractors. This seems

There is speculation [1] that the federal officers deployed to Portland include not only government employees, but also private security contractors. This seems reminiscent of "Pinkerton's National Detective Agency". If accurate, this undermines the legitimacy of the deployment, and perhaps explains why official identification for many of the officers is not provided. [1] https://medium.com/@wkc6428/the-lead-federal-agency-responding-to-protesters-in-portland-employs-thousands-of-private-db137349f8b0 https://medium.com/@wkc6428/the-lead-federal-agency-respondi...

ideals 6y ago
In such a case, shouldn't this be a good application for facial recognition software? These federal police should show up in databases confirming their identities, whether that's a federal db or a relatives FB page. Maybe we should be using ClearView AI to keep the police honest.
- Kednicma 6y ago
  The police cover their faces, and make face coverings illegal. In the past, this has worked very well; the main change now is that we have a social expectation that law-abiding folks will wear face coverings, and in even more of an inversion, folks without face coverings are suspect. In neither situation would facial recognition systems make things better for the populace.
lawnchair_larry 6y ago
There is no evidence of this and this speculation is false.
- licyeus 6y ago
  The former secretary of DHS stated this week that DHS's Federal Protection Service (the forces deployed in Portland) are mostly private contractors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJPLAZNNkc&feature=youtu.be&t=63 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJPLAZNNkc&feature=youtu.be... Evidence enough?
glitcher 6y ago
> If accurate, this undermines the legitimacy of the deployment I am perfectly comfortable questioning the legitimacy of the deployment without any speculation about which individuals we the tax payers ended up paying to be there.

ideals 6y ago

In such a case, shouldn't this be a good application for facial recognition software? These federal police should show up in databases confirming their identities, whether that's a federal db or a relatives FB page. Maybe we should be using ClearView AI to keep the police honest.

Kednicma 6y ago
The police cover their faces, and make face coverings illegal. In the past, this has worked very well; the main change now is that we have a social expectation that law-abiding folks will wear face coverings, and in even more of an inversion, folks without face coverings are suspect. In neither situation would facial recognition systems make things better for the populace.

lawnchair_larry 6y ago

There is no evidence of this and this speculation is false.

licyeus 6y ago
The former secretary of DHS stated this week that DHS's Federal Protection Service (the forces deployed in Portland) are mostly private contractors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJPLAZNNkc&feature=youtu.be&t=63 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJPLAZNNkc&feature=youtu.be... Evidence enough?

glitcher 6y ago

> If accurate, this undermines the legitimacy of the deployment I am perfectly comfortable questioning the legitimacy of the deployment without any speculation about which individuals we the tax payers ended up paying to be there.