[voicereason]

...hundreds of thousands of “law enforcement officers.”

There was a time, not so along go, that they were considered to be 'Peace Officers'. Now when a cop shows up, it's practically a signal that things are bound to get worse.

Probably one of the worst things to happen is the militarization of police. All these cops now with their plate carriers and tactical pant (or shoot-me-first pants as I like to call them). Give people toys, and they will want to play with them.

[Alberta's Child]

Actually, the worse thing that happened in this country with regard to the police is that we completely changed the definition of "law enforcement" in our lexicon and our laws.

Today, the "enforcement" aspect of a police officer means: "Enforcing obedience to the law." That kind of sh!t has no place in a free society.

Historically, the "enforcement" aspect of a police officer meant: "Enforcing adjudication under the law." The role of the police officer wasn't to protect people or force them to obey the law. People knew how to behave themselves, and they were capable of protecting themselves. Instead, the role of the police officer was to protect the accused criminal from a posse of armed citizens -- so as to ensure that the accused criminal was afforded his right to a trial by jury under the U.S. Constitution.