Excessive police power is always more dangerous than the crimes it was intended to prevent - but that can be hard to understand when people constantly see the effects of the crimes in their neghborhoods and the dangers of a future police state seem abstract. The 70's/80's War on Crime was well-intentioned, but it broke a 200 year continuum of citizen responsibility for local crime control that is going to be very hard to restore.
“but it broke a 200 year continuum of citizen responsibility for local crime control that is going to be very hard to restore.”
Especially with politicians like Bloomberg, Menino and Giuliani polluting the environment.