Portland top cops endorsed the actions of officers who used the contents of a flamboyant cop's trashbin to build a case against her — without a warrant. They argued that "Most judges have the opinion that [once] trash is put out…it's trash, and abandoned in terms of privacy." A Portland alternative paper retaliated by going through the mayor, chief and DA's home trash at the curb, publishing their findings, prompting the officials to go berzerk and threaten legal action.
Our inspection of Chief Kroeker's refuse reveals that he is a scrupulous recycler. He is also a health nut. We find a staggering profusion of health-food containers: fat-free milk cartons, fat-free cereal boxes, cans of milk chocolate weight-loss shakes, cans of Swanson chicken broth ("99% fat free!"), water bottles, a cardboard box of protein bars, tubs of low-fat cottage cheese, a paper packet of oatmeal, and an article on "How to Live a Long Healthy Life."…
We uncrumple a holiday flier from the Hinson Memorial Baptist Church, which contains a handwritten note: "Mark. Just want you to know one Latin from Manhattan Loves You."
Invasion of privacy? This is a frontal assault, a D-Day, a Norman Conquest of privacy. We know the chief's credit-card number; we know where he buys his groceries; we know how much toilet tissue he goes through. We know whose Christmas cards he has pitched, whose wedding he skipped, whose photo he threw away. We know what newsletters he gets and how much he's socked away in the stock market. We even know he's thinking about a new car–and which models he's considering.
(via Plastic)
