A quick search of the internet reveals hundreds upon hundreds of similar cases--from assault victims strip-searched and bloodied by power-mad deputies (Stark County, OH) to a man beaten to death and set afire by cop-thrown grenades. An interesting resource appears here: http://www.cato.org/raidmap/index.php?type=1 The sheer numbers here are astounding, and don't include the countless traffic stops gone bad. Invariably, these cases result in dismissed charges, probably for a variety of reasons, such as the respect many of us are taught to have for police as well as the very reasonable fear of reprisal. Making a police officer angry or vengeful is a very, very bad thing. Yes, mistakes happen, occasionally to good cops; but most of these incidents are rooted in arrogance, ignorance, or plain half-assed performance. This isn't surprising, since police face virtually no reppercussions for their actions. Invariably, all but the most egregious errors, the most heinous misbehavior, are dismissed. Until police are held accountable and face serious castigation events like these will happen again and again.
America’s Troubled House
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Imagine being Georgia Porter, one minute cooking dinner, the next handcuffed on the kitchen floor, inches from the bloodied body of a dog who was part of her family. Imagine Cheye Calvo hearing the shots from upstairs, not knowing what was happening, and then finding himself handcuffed, helpless, forced to kneel in his underwear. Imagine Trinity Tomsic dealing with her defiled home--not only did the police slaughter their dogs, they tracked blood all over the house in a search that yielded nothing.
You need to imagine all these things because, in a way, we all live in that house. It's called our country, and this is what's starting to happen here.
Prince George's official country Web site defines itself as "a county of livable communities." That's what we all wish for--a livable community, a home where we feel safe. We want to feel that if the bad guys come, we can call the police and they will be the good guys. We want to believe that if we're innocent, armed men with government badges won't handcuff us and shoot our pets and wave their weapons in our faces.
But more and more of us don't believe that.
The next president will not only have to deal with the economy, with global warming, with wars in other countries … he will have to deal with fear and rage at home. A country does not only lose itself by what happens on other shores; it loses itself in living rooms, kitchens, backyards. America will lose itself when we look around us and nothing feels like home anymore.
Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, is a California-based writer.
© 2008
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