A Menace to Society

Police officers in Cambridge are upset with the President for his remarks about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The President said that the officers "acted stupidly," but then admitted that he did not know all the facts. David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 15,000 public safety officials around the country, said

What we don't need is public safety officials across the country second-guessing themselves...The president's alienated public safety officers across the country with his comments.

I have no problem with the State being divided against itself; such disagreements among this criminal gang increase our chances for freedom. But the truth is that there is no reason for anyone not a police officer to trust any police report. Those of us who read the blogs of William Grigg and J.D. Tuccille among other libertarian blogs (including WYN!) regularly know that police routinely abuse their power and cover up their crimes. And in many of these cases, senior officers and the courts condone their behavior and exonerate them from any culpability. Why should we give cops the benefit of the doubt when they

• taser people for being polite and asking questions?
• assault an EMT worker and only receive a five day suspension without pay and anger management classes?
• murder a man outside his home because the undercover officer is participating in a drug buy on the victim's property?
• taser individuals and, if they die, argue that the death was a result of "excited delerium"?
• kill motorists while driving recklessly yet be acquitted of manslaughter charges?
• taser a sassy 72-year-old woman because she refused to sign a speeding ticket?
• taser a 14-year-old girl over a disagreement she had with her mother?
• kill a family chihuahua because it bit one of the officers?
• get drunk in a bar, beat up the female bartender who was only protecting her property and receive probation?
• strip search a man in public in front of 30 witnesses and then drive off?
• arrest a mayor and his mother-in-law in a drug sting, kill the family's dogs, realize that the drugs did not belong to the mayor, refuse to apologize, and then say that the shooting was justified?
• trick a young man who was sleeping off his inebriation into a drunk driving charge?
• rear end a car in a police cruiser, flee the scene of the accident, call their fathers who are also police officers to help search for the accident victim, find the victim, assault the victim, arrest the victim, lie about the incident, are revealed as liars when surveillance video appears, are exonerated by the District Attorney who chooses not to prosecute, and now face only disciplinary action from their police department?

This is a very short list of crimes and abuses by police officers in various jurisdictions. Simply listing all the dog-shooting incidents I know of would tax this blog's server; listing all the taser stories would crash it. And in almost every one of these incidents, the police officers involved were exonerated. The police department ruled that the shooting or tasering was justified or the DA did not prosecute or the judge in the case set the officers free or in the most depressing of cases, the jury condoned and approved the violent behavior of police officers by exonerating them.

The people in this country have very sound and legitimate reasons to fear police officers. Anyone who has been stopped by a cop becomes quickly aware of the chasm of power between him and the officer. If the officer interprets any of your behavior as threatening, he can arrest you or taser you or shoot you. And if you or your survivors believe that the action was unjustified, to whom can you turn for justice? To a judge who is paid by the same entity as the State? And what will the judge rule? He will rule that the officer's actions were justified unless there is considerable outcry from the public. But justice will inevitably be perverted in favor of the police because the State is a judge in its own case.

So I as much as I dislike the President and his government (And all governments. Don't get it twisted, conservatives), I have no problem with the President's comments. The police in this country are a menace to society. They are running a bigger deficit in goodwill than the Federal Government in national debt. They are not to be trusted. Unless their testimony is corroborated with non-police testimony or evidence, we should assume they are lying. They are an intolerable evil because our own money pays these thugs to tase us, beat us, and kill us.