and why do you think that the crime rate in the US is pretty low all things considered?
Actually I live in a big city in the East where the police chose not to have much to do as a result of their union contract.
First, you consider the crime rate pretty low - I don't. It is my understanding that the crime rate in this country has declined because we have one of the highest prison populations per capita in the developed world. We lock a lot of people up for a good long time and we pay a lot to keep them there.
For me it comes down to what we spend keeping crime down. Do we need all kinds of cop toys or merely more cops with a community oriented attitude that elicts support rather than resentment.
My bet is that the attitude exhibited in this story is what ends up costing the taxpayers much more than a reasoned and colaborative approach.