Helen; I am very much of mixed minds about this, myself. As a lawyer and once the ONLY ACLU member in the county in which I lived, I don't have much sense of humor about the 4th or the 5th Amendments.

I was in Europe while the Red Brigade was running amok, right on the heels of the massacre of the Israeli athletes, and while the Turkish -Cypriot incident was going down. In Rome, there seemingly was an APC on every street corner, and there were soldiers with assault rifles on catwalks rigged over the concourse in Fumiccino. In Kusadasi, Turkey yanks (see?) were viewed with great suspicion and mistrust.

And yet, I never heard of a random search. Absent reasonable suspicion or at the very least a colorable Terry scenario, I don't think I would react well to a random stop & frisk in this country.

I do tryly admire the manner in which the British seem to be handling their travails. I suppose 3 million cameras in central London helps. But that's another story for another day. They seem to have struck a reasonable balance between security and personal freedom, if a bit over-regulated.