by James Callahan

Created on: March 13, 2010   Last Updated: March 14, 2010

I have hesitated to share my thoughts on this. I’ve become increasingly troubled by the actions of law enforcement in general. There was the 2008 story of the St George mayor whose house was raided because he was mistakenly thought to be a drug dealer. He was handcuffed in his underwear along with his mother in law, after his dogs were both shot and killed, one while it was running away. 

Afterwards, the officers who conducted this raid were 100 percent unapologetic. This kind of thing probably happens more than we know. A few months later, Oakland burned and crowds rioted, because a young black man was shot in the back by transit police, as he lay handcuffed on the ground. 

There are a host of other examples that can be seen on You tube that show a problem which should be of growing concern to all citizens. There are the beatings that you can recall from videos (not nearly always the full story, but the breadth of the beatings go overboard), pumping suspects with100 bullets.

Then there was Ruby Ridge with the ATF. Sorry, but the Constitution doesn't grant this kind of power that has only gotten more brazen because it goes largely without consequences other than big municipal payouts because it's attributed to the chain of command or something similar to the 'fog of war.'

These are increasingly intolerant times...young people snogging in a car getting put on sex offender lists, cigarette smoking equated with violent assault, certain foods being attacked by the State, possession of certain amounts of cash bringing an assumption of drug dealings, people getting thrown into jail for leaving a kid in a car to go buy a newspaper from a box and the like.

If you encounter the police while minding your own business, just walking down the street in your own neighborhood, you might end up having to spend time and money fighting a D.A. bent on shining his star, over some crazy charge. 

I don't know exactly when it happened, but it's as if at some point, serve-and-protect became harass-and-annoy. This as we fill our already over-crowded jails with more and more non-violent offenders. By the way, the war on drugs is not working. 

You could grant a lot of leeway for actions that come out of the heat of the moment encounters/real jeopardy for personal safety. But more and more, as power has gone a little more unquestioned and employment standards have dropped, we see the kind of results.

Cops firing tasers it seems more to try out their new toys than as a next-to-last means. You are seeing a lot of testosterone filled twenty-something year old knuckleheads carrying guns and badges, many through nepotism.

There are car and motorcycle chases (when many departments' policy is no-chase, for good reason) that wind up killing innocents in wrecks. I have a friend back in Waco who lost a thumb is permanently brain damaged because of such a chase. And no, he was not the one being chased. 

True, cops have a tough job with a lot of stress. Many that I know say it doesn't pay enough. But I hear that about every body's job. I'm sure most truly care deeply about the communities they serve. But don't expect it to get any easier for police as times get more and more desperate. But let's face it, most police have too much authority for their pay grade.

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