First let me say that I support law enforcement 100%.
Having said that, I am 100% against the abuses of power I’ve witnessed lately: tazing everything that moves, military-grade weaponry used on American citizens, the blatant corruption that exists and goes unpunished.
I believe that these abuses of power can and do damage the reputation of law enforcement.
If they are perceived as an enemy of regular people then they will no longer exist as real people (with wives, husbands, career, children, hopes and dreams, etc) in their hearts and minds. To the average Joe they are intimidating and oppressive on sight. To the dregs, they become much easier to kill.
All these Gung-ho cops dressing in full military outfits, armed like they’re off to full-scale battle, bad attitudes, on some tyrannical power-trip are, in my mind, ensuring that the number of cop murders rise.
A perfect example was how police treated unarmed college kids in Pennsylvania recently. It was a total overreaction and it was very scary to witness.
If cops like the power-trip they get from being ‘scary’ then they should expect the other side of it—people loathe what they fear.
All of this is light years away from the friendly, neighborhood cop we knew and respected growing up.
People are going to respond to what law enforcement does. If they abuse the people they are supposed to “Protect and Serve” then it follows that they will respond in kind.
This is trickle down, and if the cops misbehave, the people surely will.
The absolute worse thing that could happen is for law enforcement to do more of the same, or even increase it, in response to the recent rise in cop murders.
It must stop or we all lose.
No, it is trickle up. The job is getting harder. The crimes are getting worse. The hatred for cops getting worse. No country for old men.
I think you have it exactly backwards. The cops are now on the defensive day and night. The trickle down is the violence against law abiding citizens and they are, at times, taking preemptive action. If you can't see that then you are blind.
Thank you, it needed to be said. They’re parasites that should keep the peace, not be a bunch of power-hungry, revenue-generating toolbags.