I haven't posted on TFL for a few months now due to a lot of factors, but this thread brings me back.
Benton has done a great job of making points, but it seems to me that no one really even wants to hear what he has to say. Throughout this debate several people have taken the opinion that drug abuse is a victimless crime. WAKE UP!!! Drug abuse of any kind, legal, illegal, alcohol, marijuana, hard drugs whatever, leaves numerous victims in its path. The family members that watch their loved one drown in the hell of addiction, the innocent person creamed on the road by the drunk driver, the neighbors whose house gets burglarized by little johnny next door so he can buy crack, the children of the cop who gets blown away by a meth freak, the wife who can't put food on the table because her husband is too stoned to work, and on and on. I have been a local cop for 5 years and 6 months, before that I spent 4 years and 6 months in the Coast Guard. I have never been on a SWAT team, in fact my Dept. doesn't have one. The fact is, whether you all like it or not, I am going home to my pregnant wife and 3 year old son after my shift. I do not start fights. I do not abuse people. If someone decides that they are going to test me and see how far they can push the cop, they are going to lose. My safety is the #1 priority taking into account that I have a duty to perform. If you don't like that, "POUND SAND" By refusing to acknowledge that cops are ever right in useing force or using military style tactics, you folks show exactly why we have an us vs. them attitude. The vast majority of Americans want to see the police riding around in patrol cars and want us to find their stolen bicycle, but truly have no idea what we deal with on a day to day basis. That's OK. We get paid to keep you having to know what we deal with. Just don't take a small amount of the facts that you get from the news media and indict, convict and sentence us without ever knowing the whole truth. This is one reason why very few cops are disciplined in many of the well known media cases. The media shows you a video of a cop hitting someone and gets you all shook up and only at the trial does anybody see the rest of the tape where the poor "victim" kicked a cop in the nuts. I have a few more things to get out, but I have to go to work. Oh, I guess you didn't realize that while you are at home on a Sunday night with your family, we are out there trying to keep the wolves at bay. By the way, nothing I have said is meant to support corrupt police (yes, they do exist,) or abusing anyone. I just want you to think and try to see the whole situation before you make up your mind.