Let's be clear: being a cop isn't just a "job". If you take an oath and put on a uniform and carry a badge, that isn't a "job". That badge is a badge of authority, and it gives cops powers under the law that people without the badge don't have. What comes with that authority, that oath, that uniform, is a responsibility that the rest of us who don't take those upon ourselves don't have. What other "job" gives you the power to kidnap someone and lock them in a rape room at gunpoint if they don't pay your salary?

And lets be clear about another thing: there aren't two sides to this, where one side's view is to give the cops carte blanche and the other is to defund and disband all LEE. That is retarded. There are many other points of view, including mine, where we disband and defund municipal and federal LEE, and empower the due authority of local sheriffs to enforce the standards of their counties, using whatever means they deem necessary within the bounds of the Constitution. They are directly accountable to the local voters. They can deputize and authorize local residents to assist them. What is wrong with this solution?

I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.