I hope you dont mind me adding my 2 cents to this. First, There's no denying the necessity of law enforcement. But, there are other forms of "brutality" and abuse-of-power that aren't noticed by all, such as harassment. Believe it or not, cops lie. I've seen several that will take advantage of people (particular young adults) who aren't fully familiar with the laws. Innocent people get cuffed, taken downtown, some thrown in jail, others must go through tedious court appearances and tickets, and all for nothing done wrong at all. If you've ever had to go through with it, you'd know. Even petty tickets can often involve numerous visits with the Courts and dreadful lawyers. That's really more of an issue with the justice system, I won't get into that any further.
After 9/11, sh*t's different, at least in the US. Search and seizure laws have been loosened up more than Ryan Seacrest. Police only need loosely-defined "probable cause" and/or "suspicion", and if you were to refute it in court, there's a 99% chance the judge will side with the cop's story over yours. The biggest problem here is racial discrimination against Arab-Americans. Recently in my town, a very wealthy, respected businessman was arrested on suspicion of funding certain organizations. He spent time in jail, and was later found 'not guilty'. Unfortunately during that time, all his $$ went down the crapper thanks to legal fees, and his business no more. And, will the government compensate for his losses? F*ck no.
Cops break the law. If they are the police, who will police the police? When cops are put on trial, they aren't treated like your typical Joe Sixtooth. They are "given a slap on the wrist" and for misdemeanors, they may be forced to take a leave-of-absence or a paycut. For felonies, some find ways to avoid any jail time.
I'm not saying these things are always the case. But sure, there's gonna be a few bad apples. And I think you have to realize, the victims of these 'bad apples' have every right to feel remorse. And, this is just the US I'm talking about. In certain areas of the world, the police are the biggest criminals of all.
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