That just isn't true. I grew up in a town with no police and in a county of 600 square miles and sheriff's department of about five guys. For all intents and purposes, there were no police at all most of the time. And before fifty years before that, there was one sheriff and one or two deputies for the entire county. And no, thugs did not rule. People were quite capable of handling themselves and the rule of law without constant supervision by government agents.
Right, because the law empowered all decent folks to maintain the peace, even through force if need be, and the law would support their actions, thus few got far out of line.
