Right to the foundation of the problem.
Starts at the top with a lawless dictator.
Good luck with this one...the Law & Order types will be around to tell you why the police are always right.
IMHO, “civil asset forfeiture” has turned a lot of them into something more aking to “bounty hunter” than “peace officer”.
Just a thought.....
Could it be that rather than, as the article suggests, that there is a conspiracy of sorts with police departments now at war with citizens...... but rather that it could be this generation of officers was brought up with more aggressive personalities, with a “me-me-me” attitude, less regard for life in general, and little or no religious morals?
I say this because we see these same problematic attitudes arising in other jobs as well. It seems that it is more and more difficult to find someone who can be trusted, whether you are dealing with sales people, repair people, stock brokers, teachers, and I could go on and on.
The militarism of local police must stop! Remember the Posse Comitatus Act? No need for that now. The lines have been so blurred that it is no longer distinguishable.
It all started with video games.
Until lawsuits by citizens are paid from PD coffers and not just cities (who in turn just raise taxes on taxpayers), nothing will change.
If the people committing the wrongdoing are not paying a personal price for it, nothing changes.
Some people predicted this:
http://www.enterpriseintegrators.com/flint/4thR/TomSmithsIncredibleBreadMachinePoem.txt
Now this was getting serious,
So Smith felt that he must
Have a friendly interview
With the men in antitrust.
So, hat in hand, he went to them.
They'd surely been misled;
No rule of law had he defied.
But the their lawyer said:
"The rule of law, in complex times,
Has proved itself deficient.
We much prefer the rule of men!
It's vastly more efficient.
Now, let me state the present rules,"
The lawyer then went on,
"These very simple guidelines
You can rely upon"
You're gouging on you prices if
You charge more than the rest.
But it's unfair competition
If you think you can charge less.
"A second point that we would make
To help avoid confusion:
Don't try to charge the same amount:
That would be collusion!
You must compete. But not too much
For if you do, you see,
Then the market would be yours
And that's monopoly!"
Price too high? Or price too low?
Now, which charge did they make?
Well, they weren't loath to charging both
With Public Good at stake!
Who writes this stuff? Sheesh. Get a grip. Throwing out a few examples of police wrong doing (going back several years no less) suddenly means there is a ‘WAR’ on the public?
Spare me.
I agree that we are becoming a nation of men and not laws but we are far from a war on the public by the police.