[blackdog]

You made my point! The victims are not the cops and cops cannot prevent people from becoming victims. Personal defense is a personal responsibility. Many municipalities will no longer respond to home burglaries until the next business day. They will not respond to alarms anymore.

But police cannot prevent or stop crime based on the nature of our society's charter. The only way they can impact crime rates is to make good arrests based on solid evidence presented before a good/wise judicial authority.

[TChris]

The only way they can impact crime rates is to make good arrests based on solid evidence presented before a good/wise judicial authority.

I would add: "...and shoot bad guys pointing guns at them or other people, tackle the ones that run from you and pepper-spray the obnoxious ones, in order to deter such behavior." ...but that's just me. :-)