Does anyone else remember the friendly cop of yesteryear? Policemen in my town walked a beat for the most part, stopping to talk to local store owners and shoppers. They broke up bar and school fights, sometimes without having to arrest anyone. Even the Highway Patrol were courteous when they pulled you over. I remember the police driving people, who'd had too much to drink, home for the night. The person would walk to the bar the next day for their keys and car and likely an earful from the bartender.
Having been trained in substance abuse counseling, I know that probably didn't help the person but it seemed like it was a kinder time. Policemen understood that kids are going to step over the line, couples are going to have arguments and drivers are going to sometimes push the speed envelope. The policeman may have been seeing their own past behavior. They didn't take it as a personal affront but just something that needed to be dealt with, often with just a warning. It seems that a large part of their job was indeed peace keeping.
Police, when I was growing up, were respected and looked up to. Kids wanted to become policemen. It was one of those professions that attracted some of the finest people to its ranks. When did that change? What happened to our peacekeepers?
Now that peace is more often being shattered by the officers. Don't law enforcement personnel still have to take an oath when sworn into service? Do they have their fingers crossed behind their backs? I know from many psychology classes that the prospect of being able to wear a uniform, badge and especially carry a gun sometimes attracts the kind of people who have no business having power over others. Many jobs like prison guard, mental health orderly and even teacher in some cases, attract people who love to be in authority over others. It brings out their worst qualities.
The higher ups in these organizations know that too. Quite often a candidate is turned down because something in their psych evaluation raises red flags. But that is on an individual basis. I'm talking more about the culture of law enforcement that has changed drastically in at least the last twenty years. I think TPTB have done their best to drive a wedge between the police and the public they serve. Even our station now has locked doors to the offices and a phone instead of a friendly dispatcher.
As for performing their job, no doubt it is frustrating to have to obtain a warrant from a judge before proceeding on a search of property for instance. But those laws are in place to protect the citizenry from out of control police. A friend on the force told me he could usually get a warrant signed by a judge in 15-30 minutes. That seems like a small price to pay to avoid stomping all over people's constitutional rights.
With the advent of the Patriot Act, our safeguards went out the window. Now it seems that police can bust down our doors (sometimes at the wrong address) and just act like total barbarians. I've seen videos of several police using clubs and boots on a person who wasn't even offering any resistance. Why? Because the adrenalin had kicked in or the steroids they use to bulk up at the gym had taken control of their behavior?
We've seen a recent rash of cop killings all across the country and while I certainly do not condone those acts, I do understand them. I ask the law enforcement person to put themselves in the place of the civilian. How would you like it if someone, without a warrant or probable cause, kicked in your door, terrorized your family, slammed you to the ground and quite often made off with whatever valuables you had? Are you going to tell me you'd be okay with that? Well, neither are we.
It isn't only the killing of unarmed citizens or racial issues that has many of us at odds with law enforcement these days. This cancer has been growing for decades, long before police adopted a shoot first and ask questions later policy in confrontations. The attitude toward law enforcement has moved from distrust to contempt since Congress gave police more leeway in the drug war by decreeing that police could seize cash, property, cars and other valuables from people on the flimsiest suspicion (often contrived or downright false accusations) that the person might be involved in criminal activity. Our constitutional rights, especially the Fourth Amendment, was suspended.
This has been unbelievably profitable for law enforcement. In the past fourteen years law enforcement have used this 'forfeiture-without-trial' to generate $2.5 billion in cash and property from 62,000 seizures. The money has been divided among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. It's also been used to militarize police departments.
In many parts of the country police deliberately stop cars without warrants or probable cause and drive off with that persons property. Often the victims are poor or cannot afford the legal battle it would take to reclaim their property. The seizures are nothing if not highway robbery. By the very people whose salaries we pay to protect us. And they wonder why some have resorted to violence against law enforcement? Taking cash, cars and even homes from people who are not arrested, charged or convicted of a crime has sparked a hot debate and raised the inevitable question. Just who are the criminals?
The move to end what some critics have called 'highway robbery' or the 'police slush fund' has gradually received bi-partisan support on Capital Hill. Not enough to end the practice or repeal a bad law. But enough to move Eric Holder to terminate the asset sharing program in which federal agencies 'adopt' assets seized without a criminal conviction and then 'gift' 80% of it to state and local law enforcement to use as they see fit.
Unfortunately, Holders edict, which ends federal participation in what many consider to be a legalized criminal shakedown doesn't prevent state and local authorities from continuing to seize assets if their state laws allow it. The repair of our constitutional rights, especially the Fourth Amendment, will take some time and effort to accomplish. And the citizenry must rise up and challenge this unconstitutional law.
Let's restore the respect that law enforcement used to enjoy before they decided to take on the attributes of thugs. Let each individual see to his or her own behavior and that of fellow officers to see if they are fulfilling their oath of office before wailing about how bad their image has gotten and how disrespectful people are toward them these days.
Oh, and for you in law enforcement who think you've chosen the winning team, having aligned yourselves with the elites, and allowed yourselves to be used as their fist, let me read you No. 7 on the Georgia Guidestones of the future world the elite aspire to.
“Avoid petty laws and useless officials.”
Draw your own conclusions.