Deputy Norm and others

I know police do good things. However, I do not believe there would be anarchy without them. For most of the history of the world, there was no such thing as an organized police force. For the most part, we got along fine.

I grew up in the country. Police were not a presence in my life. If we needed a police officer, it was going to take him at least 30 minutes to get there. Yet, my house was never robbed, my mother or sister wasn't raped, my dad wasn't murdered. In short, I saw none of the anarchy that is promised by the the law and order at all costs advocates. Frankly, I never thought of cops one way or the other. But if I did, it was generally favorably.

As I grew older and left my sheltered littled world, I began to have more to do with cops. I began to see friends beaten when they were picked up for public intox or some other minor offense. I saw 22 (yes I counted) police cars outside of a bar area frequented by students writing tickets for public intox and jaywalking. The next morning, I read about 3 murders that had occured that night on the gang infested North Side of the city. This total was much above normal, I always wondered if some of those cops down hassling the kids were supposed to be on the North side of town that night. Murderers don't bring in much revenue for the city though. And to top it off, the cops all left before the bars closed and when they could have done a public service by getting drunks off the road.

During law school and during my time as a prosecutor in the Army, I saw how police reports for minor offences would invariably read exactly as the statute was written. I found it strange that every single suspect acted in the exact same manner on every arrest from many different officers.

In short, I have seen and I have paid attention. I have seen much more bad than good. I personally have never needed a cop for anything and I am capable of handling myself. I am not saying they don't do good things, but we need to step back as a country and rethink the criminal system.

All of you law and order types need to read "The Tyranny of Good Intentions".