"The poisonous paranoia of ‘see something, say something’"

"Particularly revealing of this mentality was a shocking letter about the incident that McArthur High principal Daniel Cummings sent to school parents. Rather than explain the situation and apologize to Ahmed’s family, the letter depicts the violation of his civil rights as “a good time to remind your child how important it is to immediately report any suspicious items and/or suspicious behavior they observe,” even while acknowledging “the item discovered did not pose a threat to your child’s safety.”...

Unsurprisingly, having untrained citizens report suspicious activity based solely on caprice is a completely ineffective security strategy: The vast majority of tips received by agencies such as New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority report completely innocuous activities — for example, Muslim men counting prayers on the train using a common electronic tally device. There is no evidence that the reports have ever helped to thwart a terrorist plot...

An environment built on nebulous and irrational fear is one in which nothing can be taken for what it is, where there is always something nefarious lurking behind every perceived abnormality, discomfort or disruption in the flow of day-to-day life — whether it’s a forgotten backpack or a teenage kid building a clock."

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/9/the-poisonous-paranoia-of-see-something-say-something.html