It's not that I don't appreciate the legitimate efforts of LE. And I don't mean to imply that all or most are bad. But, they do sign up for the job knowing full-well the inherent risks associated with it. And the dangerous nature of LE is no excuse to trample the rights of citizens. I agree that the criminal element can be disturbing. But crime in the US has dropped to levels not seen since the mid to late sixties. In fact it's been dropping steadily for more than 20 years. Yet aggression against officers appears to be on the rise. Why? My example is a known tactic that has been and is abused by LE. There are many other questionable tactics used by *some* LE to circumvent search and seizure law, privacy laws etc. Do some research. I think the general perception of the police is changing due in large part to their actions and public posture. There is a growing feeling in this nation that we are becoming a police state. Between idiotic TSA checks of US citizen elderly, babies etc and our moronic "drug war" LE is losing credibility by being forced to enforce idiotic policies. All I am saying is that the lack of scrutiny upon the evolving nature of policing by the media is also disturbing. Innocent civilians die at the hands of LE too, and they often get away with it.
To use your same logic - anything can be taken out of context on either side. Especially when video is involved. And video can also be the only true witness and implicate law enforcement in wrongdoing. But police are not "under growing attack" simply because they might be more aggressive - they are also protecting themselves (and being asked to do more than ever in many different roles with limited budgets) from an increasingly dangerous, desperate, reckless and, sometimes insane, criminals. Yes, obviously LE is not always innocent but the lack of respect by criminals for authorities who are trying to protect the public, is disturbing!
In my opinion, police are under growing attack because they are increasingly aggressive, militarized, and ignorant or dismissive of the rights of citizens. They use tactics which circumvent the rights of American citizens as a routine operating procedures. For example, when detaining a suspect they will loudly yell, "Stop resisting!!!" whether the detainee is resisting or not while they jerk them around. To onlookers or any video camera that may be on the appearance is deceptive. When abuses are exposed we invariably hear after the internal, so-called, investigation, "the officer was acting within dept guidelines" as if that makes the act legal. I live in Washington state, and police there have gotten away with murder and other obscene abuses on a regular basis in recent years.
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Yes, obviously LE is not always innocent but the lack of respect by criminals for authorities who are trying to protect the public, is disturbing!