costs our country approximately $100 billion dollars a year. I certainly appreciate our law enforcement officers efforts to protect "us" from crime. But what cops love to do is "play" cops. And a lot of what they do bothers the hell out of me. For example, as the economy continues to sour, you now see cops everywhere writing ticket after ticket for minor traffic offenses. I've seen more trucks than ever pulled over on the side of the road with the "bubble gum" machine flashing. Law enforcement has got to pay for their gas somehow and we all see how many local and state government are hurting for money. So, let's get Trooper "Bob" out there and write those tickets. A single mom, late for work, after dropping her kids off at day care, now has to worry about how to pay a $225 traffic citation.
Ok, I've set the stage here. Let's go a step further. What do you think when your local police department spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on armour, weapons and vehicles for a SWAT team? Perhaps they've received that money from Homeland Security - maybe a state grant - perhaps it was "taken" from local funds? No matter where it's from, it's your money - it comes from the taxes your paying.
Is your town slated for attack by terrorists? Do "they" know something we don't know. I think not. Maybe Bill Ayers is tired of being a distinguished college professor and wants to bomb your city hall. Thank goodness you paid for and have a SWAT team to come to the rescue. It's all nonsense.
Do you watch Law and Order? Yeah, I know it's "only" a tv show. The main characters who "play" detectives go in to serve a warrant or to arrest someone. Right next to them is what looks like a black ops. - heavily armed SWAT team ready to bust down the door. In the "old" days - same criminals - the cops could do it without 5 "soliders" supporting them. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) doesn't need a Swat team to do his job.
The cops want you to believe the bad guys of today are more dangerous than in the past. That's nonsense. Ever heard of Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone and others?
Let's go a step further. Marijuana, prostitution and gambling. Trooper "Bob" pulls you over and finds a "dime" bag of grass under your front seat or in your pocket. Your under arrest and away to jail you go. You and a "lot lizard" (in the trucking world, a prostitute) agree for a price to have sex. Along comes Trooper "Bob" and you're both going to jail. You put down $50 on the series. You've violated the law and could go to jail. There are no "victims" here. They're crimes because the "powers that be" are not getting a piece of the action.
As I said in the beginning, an estimated $100 billion for cops to try and enforce the existing laws against marijuana, prositution and gambling. I can't count on both hands the "agencies" that we pay for that are engaged in this effort. All well equipped with the best technology available. It doesn't matter what it costs. The means justifies the end, at least in the mind of the cops. Because, again, cops love playing cop. And, no news flash here, they're failing and have been for decades to stop any of it.
Marijuana use, prostitution and gambling should be legalized. You Republican Conservatives grab and brown baq and try to breathe normally. Think of the taxes we could recoup. The $100 billion we're spending now - a "cost" center that would soon be a "profit" center. And even more revenue could be collected, if we slash (McCain style) the money spent on all that unecessary law enforcement. SWAT is only needed (maybe) in big cities, not in every "Tom, Dick and Harry" town in America.
So many "things" in our country are out of control. We've seen what de-regulation has done to our economy. Although our foundation is strong, it is needs to be changed. Forget whose fault it was, let's fix it. A step in the right direction is to free cops and them do "real" police work. Get them out of the shadows. No more playing soldiers. I know good people who have had their lives ruined by zealous cops and prosecutors over victim less pseudo crimes like marijuana possession. It is disgusting. It is un-American. And I'm tired of paying for it all.
The great photo is by http://www.gifs.net/Animation11/Jobs_and_People/Police
