[ilbegone]

It's public transportation hysteria from 9-11. The fact that illegal aliens without identification wander around unfettered on public transportation doesn't register as a related issue.

I believe there are a lot of things which are prohibited under "normal" circumstances b y the constitution which become legal when there is a perceived threat to public safety.

As I understand it, it may be illegal for an officer to search the trunk of a car without either the owner's permission or a search warrant but if there is a perceived threat to public safety, the officers can break right in without a warrant.

If permission to search is denied, the officer can call for a dog of perhaps any type from bomb sniffing to drug detection and if the dog is also trained to bark like crazy on subtle cue the dog is considered to have "alerted" even if there is nothing to be found, and the ruse works even if an argument can be made that the dog is either badly trained or otherwise unreliable.

Actually, I'm surprised the cops didn't snatch the camera after the bluffing didn't work and "lose" the evidence after booking him on some bogus charge, then let him hassle trying to sort it out with the DA later on. They did seem quite restrained to me upon receiving assertion of rights from the "subject".

As for hypocrisy, I don't believe any of them would mind audio taping a "subject" without the person's permission.