To the extent that government police have ever been effective and decent, it has usually been in the context of small, locally controlled forces in small jurisdictions. Just as the federal cops become ever more sclerotic, and unable to perform their stated functions, as they get bigger and richer and more powerful, so it is with “local” (actually, federalized) police. The Keystone Kops of Atlanta are a prime example. Headed by a handsome, burly chief from central casting, they first, when the murderer escaped the courthouse, “set up a command post to coordinate all the law-enforcement agencies involved.” No one … Continue reading Imperial Rot