The new initiative, called "Neighborhood Safety Zones," allows D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier to designate areas where there have been an outbreak of violence.
Once an area is designated, signs and checkpoints will go up and neighbors will be notified. Any car trying to enter the designated neighborhood will be stopped, and drivers and passengers will have to produce identification. They will also have to give an explanation as to why they are there.
Interim D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles says the "provisions are fully constitutional."
"Welcome to Baghdad, D.C.," says Art Spitzer with the ACLU. "In this country, you don't need identification papers and to give an explanation for why you want to go from one neighborhood to another."
D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson calls the tactics illegal.
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