What's It All About Then

Even taking a rather rosy view of all levels of law enforcement in this country, I think it's fair to say that they're engaged in a constant push to expand the surveillance state, erode any and all 4th amendment protections, etc. I'm not interested in arguing that they're "bad" here, so I'll accept the story that they're good guys who just want it to be a bit easier to catch the bad guys and Keep Us Safe.

When someone contacts you on the tincan-and-string device and gives you a tip, that's making it easy to catch the bad guys and Keep Us Safe. Easier than all the high tech toys and no knock warrants and whatever else.

The F.B.I. failed to act on a tip in January from a person close to Nikolas Cruz warning that he owned a gun and might conduct a school shooting, the bureau acknowledged on Friday, in its first admission that it might have been able to prevent the deadly attack at a Florida high school.

The tipster said Mr. Cruz had a “desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts” and advised the F.B.I of “the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the agency said in a statement.