Like many people, I don't like the police. They make me nervous. They give me speeding tickets on empty roads. They talk in that ridiculous, officious police-report diction. They are inherently politically conservative. And I doubt their motives for becoming policemen in the first place: inferiority complexes; the desire for power over others; the right to brandish a gun and use violence, etc.
Nevertheless, I admit our police are necessary. And I'm sure, objectively, that most cops want to serve and protect people, not bully and intimidate them. What I don't like is the increasing militarization of our police; and this separation between "us" and "them," especially in big city police forces that often look on local residents as an enemy force.
Radley Balko's article is fascinating and, at first glance, there does seem to be a connection between all these violent, semi-fascist T-shirts popular among police, and instances of police brutality and false evidence. Check it out!
By Radley Balko
June 21, 2013 | Huffington Post
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