Jim,
The High River thing is non-defenseable - no question about it. At least the gun part of it and the entry into folk's homes to search for them. On that we agree.
Society has changed since the 1960s, my friend. The demographics of society have changed -- the societal norms have changed. When I first joined the Police Force, if the boss found out you were living with a woman and weren't married, they would give you an ultimatum to either make an honest woman out of her or resign. Now, same sex couples cannot be discouraged. And a large segment of society is all over that.
Sure the police of the 60s, 70s, 80s etc were a different breed, largely anyway. I policed in the 70s, 80s, 90, and the early 2000s. I would be lying if I said I never saw any changes. I could say that personally, I fought against the changes in ME. But I've always been a little crusty. (Okay, maybe a lot crusty.)
I'm just saying that, it's a stretch to paint all the police officers in Canada with the brush of one incident in Alberta, or because that some cops like to speed or not wear their seatblets -- two of the more minor offences in the Traffic Act, BTW.
Back in the day, police officers were exempt from wearing their seatbelts if they had a suspect in custody, and section 128(13) of the Traffic Act has always exempted a police officer from the speed laws while he was engaged in the lawful performance of his duties. NOW, all of that is not to try to whitewash the fact that some coppers like to speed, or don't like to wear their seatbelts. But in one of the small courts I prosecute in, on a docket with 37 charges, 30 were for speeding, a careless driver, some log book offences and two seat belt charges. Seems like people other than coppers like to speed as well, and some of these were high rollers.
I am not ranting. I have probably met and worked with more officers that you have. Some of them had bad attitudes, for sure, but on the average, over prolonged periods of exposure, most of them get a pass from me. Not all. And I have charged off duty police officers for speeding, and one for impaired driving. The laws apply to all -- even me!
