Having 30 years in law enforcement, my input is your article is largely hyperbole.
Actually, it's not.
Disclaimer: I frequently criticize the police on Free Republic.
That being said, I'm not actually scared of the police, because I'm a Very Large Person. So, I'm not afraid to interact with them.
However, it is becoming dangerous to interact with them. Of the last four encounters I've had with them, two of them were loaded with weird "vibes".
One, the officer pulled me over on a sleepy residential street (blew a Yield sign right in front of him - LOL! I was taking a piece of floorsanding equipment back after pulling an all-nighter, and was 3/4 awake. I was on autopilot, and looked right instead of left, like I should have). He walks up to my vehicle, which I parked immediately, and accused me of "moving my vehicle toward him", which I had done, at 1.5 mph, after realizing that I had blocked another peasant's driveway by pulling over so abruptly.
Weird vibe, but I talked him down.
Second one, I went down to the local shop and attempted to re-unite a young lad with his pilfered bicycle. With the assistance of a helpful young police officer, we got the situation squared away within the hour.
Next one was an intoxicated young lady who roached her vehicle's steering in my back alley. I was attempting to assist her when the police arrived.
She was too young to understand she needed to keep her mouth shut, and I was attempting to assist her by observing. I got threatened with an obstruction charge, but I don't think the sergeant was out of line with that comment, since I wasn't being shy.
Last one was at the gas station. I was fueling up, and I typically am loaded with "dollar off" gasoline coupons, and when I'm in a good mood, I'll offer one to the driver at the next pump.
Well, I did so, and suddenly realized it was a couple of the local gendarmerie. Well, I wasn't going to clam up just because they were police, so I continued to press the neighborly offer, but the friendly one declined politely.
The other one was standing there with his arms folded, looking at me with some sort of strange controntational expression on his face (a stare?), because he didn't know what to make of me. Weird vibe, but I brushed it off, being as how I had him by 3 inches and 15 pounds. I realized in a minute or two that the polite one was the guy from the bicycle incident, and he must have remembered me from the previous encounter last year.
Thanks for sharing your insightful and detailed response.