Crime prevention? Don't you mean barbecue prevention? When things reach the point where people can be apprehended because in the opinion of the authorities they might commit a crime, then I will concede that Orwell was right. Can anybody say thoughtcrime? Have you watched "Minority Report" recently?

Far better and far less expensive than sending in the SWAT team, helicopter and all, would have been to have a single officer (armed with a two-way radio and without body armor!) come to the party, politely explain to the guests why he was there, and have him watch to see that things didn't get out of hand. He would most likely have been treated as a guest with the added benefit of favorable PR for the local constabulary.

I am aware that I live in a litigious society and for the most part am very much against such actions, but had this happened to me (here in the US) you can rest assured that at the very least some watch commander would spend the next six months or so directing traffic in Corncob Junction or some similar hub of activity, and it would be quite some time before he reattained the rank necessary to command anything or anybody again.

tanstaafl.