While I'm perfectly aware of the possibility of an LEO being injured or killed while in the performance of his duty, it seems somewhat of a leap to compare the danger an LEO faces when executing a warrant on a the residence of some crack-wh**re pimp with the attempt to capture/kill Mullah Omar or patrol the streets of Fallujah. When I look at the number of LEOs killed since alcohol prohibition gave rise to Al Capone and the like, then compare it to the total deaths from any single war, including the current death toll in Iraq, there's simply no comparison.
As a man now about to turn 50 yrs old, I rember when LEO's didn't have...or even want....armored personnel carriers and all the other military hardware now available to police departments. I mean....i realize crime in England doesn't compare to here, but over there, about the only people that do carry guns really are only the criminals! But it was only a couple decades ago that British LEOs did their job without so much as a simple side-arm! That's simply inconcievable to most N. American LEOs, especially the new guysd who have been fed nothing but a steady diet of of the kind of comparisons FOP is making with the actual military. The result is that nowadays LEOs wouldn't even consider stepping out of their vehicle armed with nothing more than a baton. Why is that?
Why are all drug-warrants served by SWAT teams using "quick-knock" or no-knock warrants ?
I can't help but think it's laregely a result of a pissing match between county sherrifs to see who can assemble the most fearsome collection of military hardware the Pentagon started giving away back in the 80s when Cheney and pals saw to it that the Posse Comitatus laws that had always banned the use of the military to solve domestic problems....short very extreme circumstances like an armed insurrection.
As well, the WCs and other CO's are under constant pressure to buy the latest product that companies like Taser International or the makers of personal body armor carry because the rank and file have been bombarded with slick advertising campaigns convincing them that they absolutely must have their particular product because their very lives depend on it starting the very moment they leave the station, no matter where or what they are doing.
Whatever the reason, there's a huge change in the way LEOs see their job compared to just a couple decades ago.
So what's gojng on? Why the fear? Why the military hardware?
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