by Associated Press
Published: Wed, August 13, 2008 - 3:07 am CST
Last Updated: Wed, August 13, 2008 - 3:09 am CST
HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) - Officers with military rifleshave been stopping and questioning passers-by in a violence-plagued
Arkansas neighborhood that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a
week.
The Helena-West Helena City Council voted 9-0 yesterday to allow
police to expand that program into any area of the city, even
though a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union warns the
police stops are unconstitutional.
The police chief says patrols have netted 32 arrests since they
began last week in a 10-block neighborhood of the town on the banks
of the Mississippi River. He says no one's been arrested for
actually violating the curfew, but people are being questioned
about why they're outside.
Mayor James Valley says "citizens deserve peace" and "some
infringement of constitutional rights is OK."
Some residents at a packed council meeting described a
neighborhood under siege because of gunfire and gangs.
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