i thnk one underestimates police and military folks being potential threats. selco’s articles discuss in shtf ex-police and military leading/forming gangs and being formidable problems. obviously it depend on personal character b/c mnany would be trying to help groups preserve order/help people defend themselves against gangs,m etc, but if they were immoral folks and desperate they’d be a problem.
I’ve read the same articles that S.A.M. quotes from Selco.
What even MORE scary than ex-cops or ex-troops forming gangs, is the face-in-the-crowd types whose inner demon rears up.
Selco describes the guy next door, the absolute nebbish who never got noticed by anyone - who became the most ruthless underworld kingpin during SHTF, once all the societal norms vanished. He was freed to channel his inner monster.
You can’t know if the dweeb at the cash register at Home Depot will turn into The Governor from Walking Dead. You can’t know if that nice sweet girl at the Antioch Primitive Baptist Church might be a Ladies Auxiliary in the Bloods.
SHTF brings out the worst. It can also bring out the best. But you have to watch for the worst.