While we need the police, they seem to have decided that the public that pays their wages is their enemy.
They refer to us as civilians, even though that is all they are.
Every officer in EVERY stop is extremely aggressive and confrontational.
There is NO reasoning or discussion with an officer when that officer decides what is going to happen, ESPECIALLY if the cop is wrong.
I am truly conflicted. I WANT to support the police, yet their EVERY ACTION seems to be against law, order, or good policing, and aimed at the entrenchment of POWER in their actions, legal or not.
There is no correspondence to what you claim about EVERY stop in all caps to my experience with police. I’ve never experienced anything that I would term “extreme” anything about police behavior. In over 60 years. I’ve been pissed off that they lit me up but that was me, not them. But whatever.
You hit the nail on the head there Don ... policing is all about power and control of the encounter - whether the encounter is casual to involving violence. Within that framework, is the focus on collecting evidence and making an arrest. It seems since 911, a more militarized policing has come to our cities.
Police do our dirty work and have to deal with some very very bad and violent people. A limp-wristed, pajama boy police force = no police force. Police are not supposed to be the military, they are to be close to the people, upon whom they rely for the reporting of crimes, collecting evidence etc. Police used to exercise a lot more discretion, until the early 80s when there were accusations that discretion = discrimination against those who thought they deserved discretion and got arrested. Judges and legislators agreed. Hence, combine lack of discretion plus post-911 militarization and that’s why we are seeing more of the highly aggressive, confrontational policing in situations where it used not to be seen and frankly is not warranted.
My mindset is this. I support the police. I stay as far away as possible. Interact only when necessary, keeping in mind what I wrote in my first paragraph.