Instapundit, possibly in a fit of over-confidence in the average citizen, sought to remind the cop-hating criminal element that the real function of policing is to prevent ad hoc criminal punishment by the aggravated public. Perhaps beating miscreants unconscious before dumping them outside of town would send a message, though, and think of the taxpayer money it would save.
It certainly may come to that.
Of course, the way the law is currently structured,
it protects criminals from citizen retribution
more than it protects citizens from criminals.