Quote:
Originally Posted by Airwaves
As Winnipesaukee wrote in his original post:
Since the SSN is not a document, can't be lawfully used for identification but is vulnerable to theft, not a good idea to give it to anyone. The line that is particularly bothersome to me is Winnipesaukee was threatened with arrest if he did not devulge his SSN!
Nightwing wrote
If that is their policy it makes no sense to me at all.
If you stop someone for an infraction MPOs don't "run them" for outstanding warrants? I know a lot of cops and that is the first thing they do in a stop. Tell dispatch where they are, what they've stopped and "run them" through the computer.
The question of the use of the SSN as ID aside, what happens if a bad guy decides to pull a gun and send him to Davy Jone's locker? How does the MP even know what they are looking for?
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Stop and think about it. MP HQ is in Gilford. The dispatch center usually has only a couple or three people working. Those people deal with the radio, people who come to the door and telephone calls, which can be numerous on a summer day or night.
The department averages close to 100 employees. Suppose 60 officers are on duty, patrolling the many lakes and rivers in NH. Suppose 30 or 40 of them are on a boat stop and calling in requests for record checks. It would be an impossible task for dispatch and the delays in getting people on their way would be unfair to to the public.
Consider too, that the field officers had no radio contact for years due to lack of equipment. The job had to be done with the officer working alone, with backup perhaps an hour away, and no way to contact HQ.
If a bad guy decides to pull a gun...well, that was/is one of the risks of the job, which, until this year, was done by unarmed officers.
Unless the policy has changed, boat stops are not normally called in. If you have further doubts, 293-2037.