I remember back when those damned Birchers were all about “Support Your Local Police.” Guess they dropped that crap.
As I understand Birch, they were anti-communist first. They saw communist agitation as the root of all challenges to American Institutions. But they were also strong Constitutionalists, who opposed Federal power.
So they would support cops, Law and Order, as opposition to communist agitators.
That may be the root or a root of the law and order conservative movement. Somebody else may have a different take on this issue. I think it is pretty close to describing how small government conservatives came to blindly supporting police violence. This trend is thankfully changing.