I'm one of the more harsh critics of our police forces.
I simply see the problem from a different perspective. I don't see it as a problem of "police officers" or a "problem of race" - I see it as a simple problem of far too many laws and an ever-expanding mission set for officers.
I don't want to be a police officer, and I know few people who do. You are thrown into the uncomfortable position of confronting people about something some douchebag wrote down on a piece of paper and decided would be law. While you do this, you are effectively Agent Smith to this person - they automatically assume you know (or suspect) them for whatever illegal activity they may be into. From the trash that might have missed the trash can to the hooker in their basement - you're there because of that, in their mind.
You know - the Telltale Heart, and all.
This influences that person's behavior. You pull someone over for running a stop sign and the next thing you know, they are shooting at you because they are driving on a suspended license, or something.
To show just how quickly things go the other way:
[video=youtube;O8-hgt8Z_qI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8-hgt8Z_qI[/video]
In less than a second that goes from 'routine compliant' to 'life or death.'
No - I don't want to be a police officer. Not when politicians have me risking that every time I am supposed to go enforce whatever stupid new law they've come up with.
Another example:
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For what?
To quote one of the people more familiar with the case:
"The point is that he's a convicted felon, and therefore can't posses a firearm, nor drugs. He'd likely get felony charges for both. At the very least he'd probably get put away for felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possession of marijuana, possibly with intent to distribute depending on how much they found on him. He would have been looking at a lot of prison time considering his past history, and he knew it. That's why he ran. Shame it had to end that way, a very lengthy series of bad decisions led to his death."
Which is why I am against the government being able to declare substances illegal and against the government being able to require individuals be 'licensed' or 'registered' for firearms or just about anything, really.
True - it was ultimately a set of bad decisions that led to his death - but from the government standpoint, the underground drug trade wouldn't exist if it weren't illegal - it would be a legal business like anything else. The reason we don't want felons carrying firearms is because they might do it again... but that creates an underground weapons trade and intent criminals -still- manage to obtain firearms and we're back at square one.
I'm not going to make the argument that the boy's life comes before law and say: "he'd be alive today if it weren't for the laws" - but the law does create a situation where the supply of goods that are in demand is arbitrarily limited. This forces people who want such products into the sphere of those who are willing to violate the law and strengthens the basis for a criminal underground.
The Mafia disappeared not because of the extensive efforts of the FBI, but because of the end to Prohibition - which was the primary source of funding for the Mafia. True - the FBI did bust up the hierarchy,
but the reason it didn't rebuild (as it had countless times, before) was because the foundation of illegal alcohol was stripped from below them.
I could go on and on about how this has led to a situation where the police are suffering from insane amounts of "mission creep" (as we call it in the military) - but I believe you get the idea.
