BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING...SOMETHING ELSE:

Fairfax Witnesses Saw Sniper: Fatal Shooting Of FBI Analyst Tied to Others (Carol Morello and Tom Jackman, October 16, 2002, Washington Post)

Some witnesses caught a glimpse of the sniper, and although some detectives hoped the information would aid the investigation, one source cautioned that "the description is way too premature" to release accurate details or a composite sketch. Similarly, witnesses provided at least partial license plate numbers, although another law enforcement source said the sightings have not yielded a viable lead.

More promising was the presence of the white or cream-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a silver ladder rack on top. It was the second consecutive shooting in which witnesses saw the van. This time, at least one witness said he saw the sniper get out of the vehicle, fire on Franklin, get back in and flee. Other witnesses said the vehicle's rear left taillight was not working.

Police yesterday released two composite images of a van that witnesses say they saw Friday near a Spotsylvania County gas station where a Philadelphia man was fatally shot. Although the images are of different makes -- one an Astro van and the other a Ford Econovan, each with aladder rack on the roof -- authorities said that only one vehicle was seen and that eyewitnesses gave different accounts of the brand.

It's become quite common these days for even sensible folk to complain about the loss of our civil liberties due to computerized databases and the sheer volume of information that is collected about all of us. But if innumerable government agencies can't find a pretty distinctive sounding van it suggests that the inefficiency of the bureaucracy remains one of the guarantors of our liberty.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 16, 2002 8:17 AM