(Cross posted at The Line Is Here)
I've said it before, tyranny will enter this country not at a federal level but at the local level. And the people who are more than happy to bring it to you will be the police.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Springfield's men in black are returning.
The city's new police commissioner, William Fitchet, says members of the department's Street Crime Unit will again don black, military-style uniforms as part of his strategy to deal with youth violence.
Fitchet's predecessor, Edward Flynn, had ditched the black attire as part of an effort to soften the image of the unit. Flynn left Springfield in January to become the police chief in Milwaukee.
Sgt. John Delaney told a city council hearing Wednesday that the stark uniforms send a message to criminals that officers are serious about making arrests.
Delaney said a sense of "fear" has been missing for the past few years.
We do not need to fear the police. Criminals need to fear getting caught and the repercussions of the law, but being that citizens can enforce the law, that fear shouldn't be an image of a man in black with scary weapons.
Crime is a problem for many reasons, none of which involve making the police into jackbooted thugs. If it were possible to only cause fear into the hearts of the criminals then I would say go for it, but you can't. Instead, the public is left with cops who's image is made to strike fear into their hearts as well.
Is this what we want? For the police to expect us to fear them? How much more authority do we need to give them to do their jobs? Why is it that the common American thinks that the law only belongs in the hands of police when it is we the people who grant them that right? How can we grant them something that isn't ours to give?
So many Americans are so non self reliant that they continuously give up more and more authority to the state to try to maintain their lifestyle. Instead of protecting themselves, they rely on others to do it. But now, those who have been given so much authority are beginning to see themselves as the masters, and it is apparent that they want to make sure you know it as well.
Is this what we really want?
Besides, if the police really wanted to put fear into the hearts of the citizenry, maybe they should dress like clowns instead.
rolled out on
Monday, April 28, 2008 9:41 PM