Cedar Dave
Until Police work to return to traditional powers, Police must be opposed. The pendulum has swung to far in the favor of the State.
Police have caused mistrust, and Police can repair mistrust.
Criminals? We have always have violent criminals, especially in Albuquerque. Albuquerque has a very broken culture and allows unfettered illegal immigration, and is willing to pay for said illegal immigration. The culture of Albuquerque says “we don’t have to pay our bills, we don’t have deal honestly with one another, and ignorance is fun.” I don’t know how to fix that. But Law Enforcement has become too powerful and acts with disdain for the public. Even if the public deserves the disdain of Law Enforcement that serves as no excuse for tyranny.
I am more scared of a member of Law Enforcement gone bad than a gang banger. The gang banger I can shoot. But I can’t possibly defend myself from a corrupt Police Department in collusion with a corrupt court and a corrupt mayor.
Law Enforcement must be defunded and stripped of powers until they can reform the culture that defines Police Departments across the country: Arrogance, disdain for the 4th Amendment, a petty misuse of laws to circumvent the traditional American freedoms and the constitutional prerogatives of citizens.
Yes I remember the mentally ill guy who killed two cops plus shot up a motorcycle shop and killed I think a trash man. What I remember about that is the two cops got a parade that shut down the city of Albuquerque at tax payers expense while the trash man and motorcycle shop worker got nothing. Again, a petty larceny of trust and an imagined superiority is a cancer in the Law Enforcement community that must be excised before trust is returned. Humility, Duty, Honor, Service.
While not agreeing with all your comments, you do make some good points. See this from the ABQ Journal:
Pimps, johns and prostitutes may soon face more than just an arrest when caught by Albuquerque police.
An ordinance approved by city councilors late Monday would allow officers to seize any motor vehicle used in a prostitution crime. It was sponsored jointly by councilors Roxanna Meyers and Ken Sanchez.
“This is a citywide problem,” Meyers said, pointing out sting operations conducted throughout Albuquerque.
http://www.abqjournal.com/294605/news/abq-news/abq-council-approves-going-after-johns-cars.htm
And this from Saint Louis: St. Louis Man Arrested for Video Taping at Public Train Station