[microgood]

I'm not opposed to publicly exposing and severely punishing bad police behavior, what I object to is the inference that because some cops are dirty, all cops are dirty.

You make good points here. The only caveat I would add is that during Prohibition eras, like during the twenties and now, the number of corrupt police as percentage of the force goes up considerably because of the temptation cause by the extreme and untaxed profits.

The FBI estimated during Alcohol Prohibition that about 70% of the field agents were on the take. Once it ended, the FBI did not want them and so they formed the beginning of what is now the ATF and DEA.

As long as drug prohibition continues, there will be a higher than normal rate of public corruption, including the police.

[Ken H]

Agree. We should have listened to Milton Friedman 20 years ago instead of Bill Bennett.

An Open Letter to Bill Bennett

Wall Street Journal, April 1990
by Milton Friedman

-snip-

Illegality creates obscene profits that finance the murderous tactics of the drug lords; illegality leads to the corruption of law enforcement officials; illegality monopolizes the efforts of honest law forces so that they are starved for resources to fight the simpler crimes of robbery, theft and assault.

Drugs are a tragedy for addicts. But criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society, for users and non-users alike. Our experience with the prohibition of drugs is a replay of our experience with the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

-snip-

http://www.fff.org/freedom/0490e.asp