chamberc wrote:anygunanywhere wrote:Any segment of society that considers themselves above factual criticism are making themselves out to be elitist. LEO bashing is and should be forbidden on this forum. In the same manner we, myself included often bash those we disagree with to one degree or another. In the end, determination of whether or not a statement is bashing is totally subjective.
Anygunanywhere
I would respectfully argue that, on the whole, law enforcement has reached a point of they themselves not understanding that they are CIVILIAN servants- that is, they themselves are civilians that serve other civilians. I was raised in a time gone by where they earned the respect they were given.
I strongly believe that looking at the facts, events show that there is a definite trend towards police being the largest violators of the law. They regularly break traffic laws, violate the 1st, 2nd and 4th amendments, and in general ignore the law in the name of false hot pursuit.
Incidents during Katrina, the Boston Marathon, the NYC sidewalk shootings, no knock warrant execution, incorrect warrant execution and numerous poor judgement shootings show us that these civilians with "special rights" have extended into the realm of being a dangerous element in society.
They need to be held criminally and civilly liable for their mistakes and we must enforce the rule of law upon them. That means if it is illegal for citizens to do something, in all cases these "special" civilians should be held to the same standard. And yep, that means they can't carry some weapons, have armored vehicles or drones if other citizens can't.
I am in no way saying all LEO are criminals, but you must definitely see that any citizen that is afforded rights above and beyond other citizens is a danger, and is a lawbreaker themselves. Sadly, in today's LEO ranks, we have a high number of civilians that have the insatiable desire to "be the boss" without the ability to succeed without an artificial grant of authority. These are largely folks who are incapable of succeeding at jobs in other fields, and they seek this artificial power. These ranks are growing, and tarnish the genuine servants in the ranks.
Food for thought from just today's news:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -stop.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;