Helena, Arkansas is right across the Mississippi River from Memphis. I’ve been through it a couple of times, heading north on I-55. At present, they are under a 24 hour curfew because of the rampant crime in the city.
There is no “right” side of this problem. The needs of the people are to stop the drug violence and random shootings. The Rights of the people are to be free of random searches and seizures.
There is a delicate balance between our Constitutional rights, and the needs of the people. When the people give up Rights for security, the Rights go away and are not likely to reappear.
It is the job of the People to protect themselves. It is the job of the police to arrest lawbreakers. The two have some congruence, but are mostly incompatible. If the People won’t stand up for themselves, then the government will stand up and take some Rights away in the name of Security. And of course, those who give up one for the other deserve neither.
We are all being trained to let the government do things for us, instead of doing it for ourselves. That is the true tragedy of today.