Should we then consider… kickbacks as a possible driver? I’m just throwing possibilities out there. 
At uni, we had one particularly shrewd classmate. (He always seemed to have “something going”.) He was a fine student, heading toward a BS in aerospace engineering. Not long before graduation, he announced that he’d decided to become a NYC cop. We were shocked… until we learned of NYPD salaries after only a few years, excellent benefits, and incredibly generous pensions. $6B… not a surprise.
Well, unfortunately there are militarized riot cops in Germany too and they are from the same breed as every other fucking riot cop.
Excuse me, but why are the sheriff’s “feelings” remotely important in this context? He authorized the grenades’ purchase, I assume - did he think that it could only flash-bang bad adult people? I do not give a gnat’s gonads what he ‘felt like’. He was more at fault for this harm than the officer that dropped the damned thing.
In addition to looking like they just crashed the Blackwater candy store, the cops in my tiny-ass redneck town look like they’re young enough to still go trick or treating and just started shaving yesterday. Armed to the teeth with everything except fully developed powers of reason and judgement. THAT’S what I find to be especially scary.
I am sure I’ve seen this linked elsewhere on the BBS, but I found it a very good read on a related subject:
The way soliders look has changed, too.
The evil police force in the John Carpenter’s Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. movies were spot on for what police look like now. Also their crazy fascist logo looks exactly like the current post office logo. Pretty nuts that a dystopian, poorly written, so bad it’s almost cool, 1980s “future“ movie reflects my current society.
As an aside, last week I watched escape from nyc and then watched captain Ron right after. Same actor (Kurt Russell) and same eye patch in both movies. I recommend the experience of watching them back to back.
Like a mini North Korean May Day
US police is a mess, too huge of a mess just to patch up with a handful of quick fixes.
They need to instigate more training, to become a police officer you need to have a degree, make it free to do even, but it should be a 2-3 year course.
Take military equipment out of the hands of regular police, SWAT squads can still use them, but to qualify to be on the SWAT squad it should be like another 2 years of training. SWAT would never be deployed for riot control.
Disband police unions, the unions are a big problem when it comes to prosecuting police who do wrong.
If a police officer is fired for misconduct then they should not be allowed to be rehired or to do any security work.
Get rid of qualified immunity.
That’s the WORST crime EVAH. 
I think that the fear of unfavorable media coverage made him feel this way, not the fact that that they irreversibly harmed a child.
It’s a part of propaganda. Even when police actions are unconscionable, some news reports try to add a positive spin.
Thanks, I’ve been looking for this but couldn’t remember the title.
That used to be every post-apocalyptic movie. It was a staple of the genre that “when your cops look like high tech soldiers, the world has gone to hell”. At some point that just became normal? This country has lost the plot. 
I remember one of the early “justifications” for military gear for cops was the “War on Drugs”. There were several shoot outs with criminals where the cops claimed they were “out gunned” by the criminals and they had to have better weaponry. Unfortunately, most of the public bought this argument and supported getting them military gear. It just snowballed from there.
The unions are really the power in the cities. The union’s protection is why brutality has become systemic.
See also: “The Bill” from the UK.
little old NZ aye…
I never saw a gun on a police hip until I was 23 and went to Australia.
I remember standing at the checkout line staring at a big glock in front of me and wondering if it was really necessary when picking up bread and milk.
That would cost money though. Meanwhile people want to defund police.
