From TTAG Commentator reaganmarine84:
WTF is wrong with most of the people on this blog? Where has all this hostility for Law enforcement come from? You all sound like a bunch of 60′s hippies. Next thing is you’ll be calling them “pigs” . . .
There is a large portion of readers who are either active LE have family members who are in LE such as myself in the latter category. I agree that there are still some “rogue” elements in the LE community, no one is perfect, anyone can be corrupted. But for the most part, they are just men and women like us who are sometimes afraid for their very lives on traffic stops. They just want to be able to go home to their families when their shift is over.
I’ve noticed this trend on this site towards a real problem with the men and women who are trying to protect civilians. I once had a hatred towards every and all police regardless. But, I grew up. I learned that there are truely some really ‘bad cops’ out there who use that position with bad intent. But most are just regular folks with families.
Come on people, wake up!! The world is a bad, bad place now. LE deaths in the line of duty are at an all time high and rising every year. These criminals and thugs don’t give a rip about police. It’s almost a game to see who can kill the most officers.
I’ve read a lot of reports about SWAT teams over-reacting and dumping mags. They’re still human and they still experience fear. They’re still for the most part much more disciplined and trained than the average officer and civilian. I’m not excusing them for when things go horribly wrong and I think they should be responsible and accountable for their actions.
The bottom line is this: Since drug dealers/criminals/gangbangers have upped the ante on the firepower they carry now, LE has to up their firepower too (i.e. West Hollywood shootout,or even Columbine). It’s almost like an arms race. One side ups the ante and the other side has to up the ante a little more, and so on, and so on. Therefore the quote, “militarization” of the LE community.
If the evil-doers are using military grade hardware, I don’t want to show up with a S&W .38 spcl and a couple speed loaders. Gangs and drug dealers a super hard-core now because they have no respect for human life at all. I can understand a call for SWAT to serve a “no-knock” warrant on a known meth labs and such but not simple warrants. And just like our military, defunding or disbanding them is a BAD idea.
Don’t you think that would just embolden the bad guys? If I was a bad guy that would be good news for me. In a lot of smaller department that cannot necessarily afford a full-time dedicated SWAT team,officers typically pull double-duty as patrol officers until the call goes out for SWAT.