These yahoos are a scourge on law enforcement and flaunt the constitution. Abuse of power continues everywhere and people wonder why the cops aren't trusted....
Mike
Not to mention the fact that fewer real criminals are arrested and prosecuted these days it seems. How many violent criminals are allowed to continue roaming the streets for every nonviolent drug offender that is prosecuted?
Two things to consider here. One: He is now marketing a product that is selling well. Extravagant and controversial statements make for PR. Two: If indeed he was making a bust a day, he must have logically found a way to increase his chances of finding illegal activity through the powers of observation and experience. I am sure there were many people that had their lives interrupted unnecessarily by him in his pursuit of law enforcement. But using logic, reason and experience to ferret out the more likely segment of our population to be involved in criminal activity makes for efficient law enforcement.
How many times do we have to search the 80 year old, wheelchair ridden grandma at the airport just to say we are being fair?
I believe in situation profiling. Muslims toiling with clay like material in an airport constitutes suspicious activity. Muslims toiling with clay in art class does not. a group of kids in a Walmart parking lot at 1:00AM is suspicious and should be investigated. 6 black youths piled in a low rider driving in circles in a shady neighborhood is suspicious. 2 white kids running out of a 7-eleven should be investigated.
And why are all these scenarios so obvious? Because they are out of the ordinary and experience tells us that these situations, regardless of age, race, religion, etc. historically are precursors for illegal activity.
We preach political correctness in society and find ourselves telling police not to pull over a van full of Mexicans headed north on I-35 from San Antonio because it would be "racial profiling."
I don't advocate renegade tactics and certainly don't encourage more police powers on average citizens. But we do pay taxes and we would like our tax dollars to be used efficiently. Sensitivity training and public relations should not be the order of the day for our LEO. They should be taught to recognize small details that should be investigated beyond what the average citizen would notice. Then use that training to thwart crime and put bad guys away.
They should also be trained to prioritize their efforts. Unfortunately, politics plays a part in these priorities. We must set examples, you see. We must prove that we don't play favorites or have prejudices. Therefore, it is necessary to go busting down a door in the middle of the night to arrest someone on suspicion of possessing an ounce of pot. It shows that we are being politically correct.
How best should we allocate our LEO resources?