In Iraq, I raided insurgents. In Virginia, the police raided me.

[soot]

I thought this article was a great example of half of what's wrong with American law enforcement today (the other half being the innumerable cops who outright break the law, violate civil rights, and ignore departmental standards and procedures because they don't carry the force of law thus only incurring "administrative" penalties).

We're talking about that "other half", the individual cops who have gone bad, in several other discussions right now so I thought this would be a good place to talk about how policing in general has taken a turn for the worst as an institution.

In Iraq, I raided insurgents. In Virginia, the police raided me.

Article from WaPo written by a fella named Alex Horton, a member of the Defense Council at the Truman National Security Project, former infantryman who served in Iraq with the Army’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and recent victim of police abuse of power.

Couple of good points/comments he makes:

Similarly, when U.S. police officers use excessive force to control nonviolent citizens or respond to minor incidents, they lose supporters and public trust. That’s a problem, because law enforcement officers need the cooperation of the communities they patrol in order to do their jobs effectively.

Domestic police forces would benefit from a similar change in strategy. Instead of relying on aggression, they should rely more on relationships. Rather than responding to a squatter call with guns raised, they should knock on the door and extend a hand. But unfortunately, my encounter with officers is just one in a stream of recent examples of police placing their own safety ahead of those they’re sworn to serve and protect.

Of course, officers’ safety is vital, and they’re entitled to defend themselves and the communities they serve. But they’re failing to see the connection between their aggressive postures and the hostility they’ve encountered in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore and other communities.

I understood the risks of war when I enlisted as an infantryman. Police officers should understand the risks in their jobs when they enroll in the academy, as well. That means knowing that personal safety can’t always come first. That is why it’s service. That’s why it’s sacrifice.

I, personally, am looking forward to the day these idiots kick in some veteran's door unnecessarily and he pins them in a fatal funnel and kills them all.

I wouldn't wish that on any individual veteran, or even on any individual cop, but cops apparently are only going to learn their lesson the hard way and all Americans will be better off when they do.

 

[Tsunami]

This just goes to show you that terrorism works. We're all on such a heightened state of security these days because of 9/11 and people shooting up movie theaters. We're afraid, and the terrorists win. What they want is to take away our freedom, and they've done it. More accurately, we've done it to ourselves.

That said, I live in Virginia and the local chief of detectives in my area told me that they don't do such raids unless they think someone is armed or in the process of destroying evidence. So it's not this way everywhere. Fairfax County is the richest large county in the whole country, perhaps they are more paranoid than most other places. You get what you pay for.