Agree colmpletely.
The law enforcement excesses brought about in substantial part by the Patriot Act have resulted in my determination to never, ever, sujpport the expansion of police powers at any level--local, state or federal. They expand and abuse those powers at every opportunity. Which is why I am now opposed to no-knock warrantless searches.
Law enforcement has a real problem with loyal, patriotic conservative Americans. They no longer have our trust and are going to have to work hard to regain it. Increased militarization (SWAT), inflated pay schedules, unjustified overtime and pension fattening at every turn, is not the way to go. In California, all of this is totally out of control -- which is what happens when public employees are allowed to unionize; a big mistake.
It’s been about fifteen years, since I thought SWAT teams had by and large gone postal.
In the old days, a Charles Manson, SLA, bank robbery, hostage situation would warrant special tactics.
Now these tactics are used casually, for any number of situations. Rather than simply knock and talk to the individual civilly, they ram through the front door and storm the location. Stormtroopers?
I say casually, because you can’t claim it to be otherwise, then explain how you broke down the wrong door. If the assault is on, then there damned well better be a determination that the property is the right property. If there is no determination, then the operation MUST BE CALLED OFF. You error on the side of safety.
If someone knocks in my front door, I’m going to be reaching for a weapon. If during the loud noises associated with this type of a situation, I don’t hear the word “POLICE”, then I’m likely to be killed for trying to defend my wife and property. I might even take out an officer before I realized what the deal was.
The local police and the courts would obviously charge me with a criminal act. Now doubt about it. Would it have been my fault? Hell no. When someone enters my home through force, they are turning their life over to me.
I would not charge every officer with a felony count of breaking and entering. I would at the very least charge the person in command with criminal negligence and make damned sure they never worked in law enforcement again.
Exactly. The police unions have done for policing what teachers' unions have done for education.