
Originally Posted by
thegodfather
'If you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about' is a classic line used in the usurpation of civil liberties. In fact, this is a false choice, it's not that you have anything to worry about necessarily, it's that the government need be restrained because hundreds of years of human history has proven that government will always overstep its bounds and abuse the powers given to it. This is also the reason citizens should never just acquiesce to the requests of police officers if they are not legally obligated in that particular situation to do so. With regards to the 1033 program of departments receiving military hardware, in particular small departments, I completely agree with them not having such equipment. Those departments frequently cannot afford the necessary training that is required to use that equipment properly and safely, and they increasingly feel the need to use heavy handed tactics for drug raids on non-violent offenders, which is wrong. One particularly troubling idea to me, is that ex-military should go into law enforcement. The military and law enforcement are two drastically different functions, a soldiers job is to identify, close with, and kill the enemy. A law enforcement officers job is to preserve life and enforce the law of the land. The police do need to be reigned in, with particular reforms aimed at the force continuum and an emphasis on community policing. The culture of militarization in the police force has the unintended consequence of police acting like an occupying force, viewing citizens instead as all enemy combatants as opposed to citizens they should be protecting. Ending the drug war would be a major step towards de-escalation.