My two cents on police brutality, from an interview yesterday on police brutality with Press TV
Bovard: “Police are often out of control and local governments do a very poor job of protecting people from their protectors. Almost across the board, you have law enforcement officers who don’t feel obliged to obey the law.”
Bovard: “The entire system of justice has become structured to impose penalties and prison times on private citizens. There is less and less focus on making sure sure that people who have all the arbitrary power – the people who have guns and the right to shoot other people – are kept on a leash.”
Mostly because the people who cheer it on – and enable it in the first place – are of the firm (yet delusional) belief that the system they so adore will never be turned on them. There is nothing more pathetic than a law-and-order-they’re-all-guilty type being caught in (or even just accused of) some sort of crime. It’s quite religious, it is, they way they seem to believe that their fervent worship will somehow be repaid.
Good points. It’s always dangerous to worship the State…
As they say, “A Conservative is a Liberal who’s been mugged; a Liberal is a Conservative who’s been indicted.” 😀
I get along well with “my” officers, and did even when I was in the public defender gig – which says a lot for their tolerance, I believe. But there’s a huge difference between small town where everybody knows everybody and Big City Industrial Policing.
How much of the difference (if any) is the result of strong police unions in big cities?