I don’t think it is a morph so much as we now get to hear of police misconduct when previously it was perhaps a local issue, or perhaps not publicized at all.
“I don’t think it is a morph so much as we now get to hear of police misconduct”
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No, I observed it in small town police prior to my leaving the US.
Little bedroom towns were beefing up their police departments, hiring young bucks who thought they were going to police a big city like Detroit. They had all the swat gear and loved practicing with it. They wanted to emulate the latest TV show cops. I doubt that even the town fathers realized what they were getting into.