“Protecting and serving”

There is one items that is not being discussed in the Dallas police abuse case. Why does a 25-year-old have this kind of authority over the lives of other people?

I think this is a legitimate question to be asking. Police have huge amounts of discretionary authority, and we know that even the most introspective people will abuse it. However, apparently Americans think nothing of having a young person go to a police academy, where they are taught that ordinary people are scum, and that they must constantly be intimidating others to get their way.

It really is true that this police officer was doing what he was trained to be doing. Until we address THAT issue, we will constantly have police abuse. It is just that he abused the wrong person, an African-American professional athlete as opposed to an ordinary Joe.

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12:22 pm on March 27, 2009