Reply #62: It's a difficult balance, to be sure

[0rganism]

I can't say that it's always been easy to respect the cops, and I certainly don't condone the free-ride they seem to get with the justice system whenever they do fuck up. But when it comes down to it, it's their job to arrest a lot of people who have done some truly nasty things, while still preserving the body of evidence and civil rights necessary to indict and convict. They're like the janitors of a lawful society.

The degree to which the police regularly overstep is a direct reflection of the amount of authoritarianism, classism and racism we've come to accept as a society, IMHO. We cannot expect to change outrageous police behavior in isolation, doing so requires a sea change in how the society views crime and punishment. However, those organizations working towards the correct level of accountability are absolutely essential to developing the overall perception that it can be done at all without hamstringing the police departments' ability to enforce laws.