Shock and Awe in Miami

Via Atrios, Miami police are planning to "shock" and "awe" the local population as part of an "in your face" plan to keep terrorists off balance. So reports the AP:

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez, who announced the program Monday, said as an example, officers might surround a bank, check the IDs of everyone going in and out, and hand out leaflets about terror threats.

"People are definitely going to notice it," he said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears."

Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, said the Miami initiative appears aimed at ensuring that people's rights are not violated.

I'm no civil rights lawyer, but I have to wonder if this Howard Simon is being quoted correctly. The police are planning to surround places of business and demand identification from citizens who are under no suspicion of wrongdoing. What if they demand to see my ID under the scenario above and I refuse? Will I be denied access to the bank? Will I be arrested? Will I get a beat-down? Have these questions not occurred to the director of the Florida ACLU?

What kind of anti-terrorism tactic is this, anyway? Remember that the 9/11 hijackers were in this country legally. If Mohammed Atta had been caught up in something like Miami's Shock and Awe dragnet, he couldn't have been detained for anything but suspicion of being an Arab. I know that a lot of people wouldn't have a huge problem with that in Bush's America, but you'd think it would agitate the ACLU a little bit.