On Fri, 22 Sep 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Slightly off topic - When I was in Paris a couple of years ago my teenage
> daughter and I found ourselves alone in a subway station, waiting for a
> train. Suddenly three men came into the station wearing camoflage fatigues,
> with rifles slung over their shoulders. We assumed/hoped they had something
> to do with the military establishment, and weren't crazy terrorists - but
> being strangers in a foreign country, could not be sure...
Many years ago, I was on a trip to Germany with my parents. This
was not too long after the Locherby bombing, and we were flying out of the
airport the suspected bomb originated in. Security at the airport
(Frankfurt, if memory serves) was the tightest I had ever seen. The
camoflaged officers with assault weapons on their backs were quite
intimidating. This being an airport, I believe this intimidation effect
was quite intentional.
Mr Luther mentioned...
> Working along side officers who do undercover or plainclothes work,
> however, what I have noticed is that whenever the gun is visible on a
> belt holster or inside a suit coat, generally their badge is also
> visible.
This, I believe, is the crux of the problem. The presumed officer
Tim ran into didn't seem to have his badge out at the time. The officers
in the Frankfurt airport at least had "Polizi" stencled in big white
letters on their backs. The clear statement of, "I am a police
officer," in some form is required for openly carrying weapons in this
state.. I think.
Though, I believe Tim's beef was more about non-uniformed officers
carring weapons at all.
Greg Riedesel
SSP
