LAPD's iWatch Terrorism Ad: Important Or Incredibly Creepy? (VIDEO)

Via "The Live Feed" comes this striking ad from the Los Angeles Police Department, explaining their new city-wide anti-terrorism iWatch program.

The iWatch program encourages people to report suspicious activity that may be terrorism-related to the police. The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concern that iWatch will lead to "racial or religious profiling."

"I watch my street, I watch my city, I watch my community, I watch my America," say a group of Angelenos. "I watch, I report, I keep us safe."

Watch the ad:

So is having people look out for potential terrorists necessary or just creepy? Vote!

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Comments

[egaeus]

12:13 PM on 10/24/2009

Think about this: you're more likely to die from a doctor who prescribes the wrong drug or whose handwriting can't be deciphered by the pharmacist than a terrorist attack. You're more likely to die from smoking.

Rather than fight terrorism by watching one another, we should fight it by encouraging our government to stop interfering in the politics of other countries and murdering the families of others.

[JoePenn]

09:56 AM on 10/24/2009

I've got an iWatch to report: there are these 'salespersons' in just about ALL malls in America, LA included, of course. They sell these 'skin-care' products that they steal from another country (but that's a different issue altogether). But these folks happen to be almost entirely "former" military intelligence and covert operatives from a country in the Middle East. Prior to Sep 2001, they sold these 'zoom copters' and after Sep 11th of that year, 1000's of them returned to their home country, only to return shortly afterwards, once things calmed down a bit.

Can you please keep a close eye on them, specially when they're NOT accosting people in the malls?

[brucefmsky]

09:33 AM on 10/24/2009

All of this effort and money should have gone into watching Wall Street, the real terrorists who have managed to bring down the country.

[Brodell]

09:31 AM on 10/24/2009

iWetMyselfWithFear

[kaycem]

09:24 AM on 10/24/2009

the blond chick w/ the big eyes says her name is "greta ballard (?)" but it's not ~ she's an actress. i know they're ALL actors, but it's important to reinforce this since the LAPD is trying to portray them as "real" angelenos... anyway, her real name is bridget moloney and i recognized her from ricky gervais' movie, "Ghost Town". imdb confirmed... anyone else recognize any of these actors?

[Donns]

09:07 AM on 10/24/2009

You wait, first time some parent grounds their kid for doing something they shouldn't that kid will report their parents and the parents will get hauled to jail and get the truth beaten out of them. They may even confess to get the pain to stop, it's the American way.

[Roxanna]

08:39 AM on 10/24/2009

Just another form of Promoting Fear....

The noose around America's neck that has dragged it down...

[LeftLeanWing]

08:15 AM on 10/24/2009

This is eStoopid

[cpt b]

07:41 AM on 10/24/2009

Watching out for strange foreigners in LA is like looking for grains of sand on the beach.

[PAposter]

08:07 AM on 10/24/2009

Who said anything about foreigners...there's quite a few homegrown factions, as well.

[cpt b]

11:02 AM on 10/24/2009

I was a spectator at the 9-12 event in D.C. The militia groups couldn't have made it easier, they were openly advertising with their cruelly-made poster boards right in front of the FBI building. I guess the best place to hid is in plain sight.

[LANmine]

07:04 AM on 10/24/2009

Ok, I don't live in L.A. or know how it works but I know about lousy law enforcement. I live in northern VA where we have way too many hot dogs with guns arresting people for petty nonsense. Have you ever seen 8 cop cars parked along the roadside to stop a kid speeding in a Hyundai? In Fairfax, not that long ago, some cops burst into some innocent guy's house & shot him dead then they realised that they were in the wrong address. Bottom line is all this fear & nonsense stems from lack of education. Where was all this domestic terrorism nonsense over 20 years ago? Oh wait, we had the Cold War with Russia who supposedly couldn't wait to nuke us. If you keep the populous scared then they're easier to control & rob.
This isn't anything new. George Carlin said it best, "....as long as you're willing to put up with it."

[think global act local]

06:48 AM on 10/24/2009

didn't the police in NJ almost arrest Bob Dylan this summer, when he took a walk through some neighbourhoods before the concert. We shouldn't be paranoid about the people who walk in our streets, most of them are harmless (99,99999999%)

[dobberdoss]

06:09 AM on 10/24/2009

Hahahaha, this is crazy!. On 911 the CIA and FBI watched and watched and watched and failed to act until after the event!. Then they acted alright, they covered up, they censored and they lied.
THIS IS OUR AMERICA!. Living in fear is NOT the answer particularly when the REAL enemy is our OWN Government and own corporations.
1984, here we are. George would be so proud.

[Axekick]

07:16 AM on 10/24/2009

.. and after all that you mentioned and the countless billions spent on homeland security to keep us safe they turn back to us to keep ourselves safe. Okay, can we have our money back now?

[LifeIsBrief]

06:06 AM on 10/24/2009

iWatch for Apple copyright infringements.

[ipastor01]

06:23 AM on 10/24/2009

And you know those guys will sue!

[ZenJu]

05:40 AM on 10/24/2009

"My name is...." Bullshit. In reality, anonymous cowards can ruin lives through erroneous reports or slander. This is evil.

[ZenJu]

05:38 AM on 10/24/2009

This is totally insane and creepy, worthy of North Korea. Everytime some "concerned citizen" makes an anonymous tip that ruins the life of someone, I want to vomit. Remember the woman living for decades as a model citizen in California, turned in for escaping a miscarriage of justice in her teens? The hallmark of a decent civilisation is when everybody leaves everybody else the hell alone.