"...Shut up, citizen..."
Oddly enough, there are people on this thread who are somehow comforted by seeing disguised, black-clad troopers with truncheons and armor protecting their local Starbucks Coffee [note background] retailer.
How does one convince one of the troopers in that picture that we're among the "good eggs" in this society? My guess is that this would be a very difficult discussion unless you yourself are one of them. Imagine if municipal officers are empowered to begin suiting-up like this on a daily basis in support of The War on Terror...
Getting back to original idea of this thread, this is why the militarization of the police is such a bad direction for our country. Traffic stops are increasingly more and more adversarial and erode the visionary concept of community policing.
~ Blue Jays ~
My oldest boy is a cop. He volunteered for SWAT duty, because that is where the adrenalin flows. I don't even bother to discuss it with him, any more! He's lost to the dark side!
I understand that the same chemicals are released, by the body, during these situation, as when a hype shoots up... That keeps runners going, and cops kicking down doors/ stopping "suspects" (suspect=you) hmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Guess what. That only works in a community.
Large cities are not communities. They are vast collections of anonymity. For the people, and thus also the cops.
I have lived in big cities and small towns, and guess what, Barney Fife lives! And sure enough, he's nicer and you're nicer when both of you know each other's family.
People hiding in cars at a big beltway checkstop and ninja cops with sniffing dogs are two sides of the same coin, mah anonymous internet poster frenz.