A tale of two police forces

Yeah, we always say there's a huge difference between the old Peace Officer (as in keeping the peace) and today's Law Enforcement Officer, who's increasingly militarized, rigidly enforcing even the dumbest and most un-Constitutional of laws, and of the "I vas just followink orders!" mentality. – Bawb.

Over the years, police have changed from being ‘peace officers’ as described, to more that of government functionaries, indifferent to, and in some cases scornful of the communities they operate in. It seems sometimes that the government’s idea of a really good cop is one who has memorized every offense under every law and regulation ever enacted and will act against every infraction.

‘Zero tolerance’ is a very popular buzzword among ‘cracking down on crime’ politicians and governments.

There has been speculation as to what inspires cops to get up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to toss on the blue uniform and go out there to make pricks of themselves. One belief is, that with the plethora of petty and piffling rules and regulations today, the force is attracting the sort of people who get their jollies out of enforcement.

Radly Balco, “The Agitator” has an interesting piece on recruiting material and how it is likely to influence the type of officer they end up with. He presents two videos with the respective departments giving their impressions of what being a cop is all about. The first is from Decatur, Georgia:


Note the more chilling nature of the one below from New Port Beach, California:


It is not difficult to assess which police force will get the most respect in the community and which will generate the most fear and distrust. While not familiar with the recruiting efforts of the US military, Australian army recruiting videos are not anything like the gung-ho effort of the quasi military force from New Port Beach.