Come on now. You guys can't really be that naive to think that the good ol' Sheriff system wasn't as corrupt as corrupt can be? The good ol' sheriff was a lord in the rural counties of the south. He actually kept people from voting if they weren't the right color or nationality. It was his duty. He fed at the trough of kickbacks and protection money and cared little for civil liberties and things he didn't have to understand because "he was elected", even if he owed his existence to crooked politics.
And this is coming from somebody who had the misfortune to get into a fist fight with a sheriff's brother who was poaching on my property.
So you think people are less likely to abuse their official police powers if they are NOT subject to periodic re-election? If that's the case, maybe we shouldn't elect our presidents either. Make them less corrupt that way. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Frankly, yours was the argument put forth by the "black-shirts" under Mussalini. "We can't trust this elected office system. Too corrupt. We need men of action who don't fear the electorate's wrath."
