The case for restrictions....

Lately, we have been witness to the realization that our government has decided to take liberties with what they were legislated to accomplish.  The programs revealed by an altruistic young man reveal that our leaders, no matter what they tell you to get elected, will generally abuse power once they achieve control of it.  But really, we should not be surprised.  For years, the American public has allowed "Mission Creep" in law enforcement under the guise of public and officer safety.  To think that the intelligence community would not be subject to similar mission creep is naive.  

However, as the full story on our spies has yet to play out, I will refrain on commenting on that.  The mission creep I want to address is at a lower level.  JayG linked to a story about a young woman arrested for buying a 12 pack of water.  The "sting" was effected in a dark parking lot by plainclothes agents who exhibited less than professional behavior.  The woman reacted exactly as she should have and still spent a night in jail.  Even the  ABC description of the incident tells me that the students made the right choice.  Although the charges were dropped, I doubt that the Alcoholic Beverage Control agents will see a single item in their files about the incident.  And here is where I start to have a problem.  

I have long had an issue with plainclothes officers making arrests with no uniformed officers supporting the event.  In this case, it was late night and guns were pulled over a suspected 12 pack of beer.  What should have happened is that the agents involved should have requested a cruiser be assigned to stop suspected vehicles as they leave the parking lot while the agents check on the purchase with the store.  Instead, we have the wild west with agents jumping on the hood of the car with drawn guns over not-beer.  

This is a perfect example of why I would like to see state and federal agencies lose this privilege as well as their right to carry on duty.  In fact, I feel that most of the state and federal agencies should lose their "Tactical Teams" (or whatever they call them in their organization) and be required to justify calling in an agency that does have them.  Despite what you saw in The Untouchables, Al Capone was brought down by a bunch of accountants.  We need more accountants, less gunslingers.  I would also like the scale tip farther towards "Citizen Safety" instead of "Officer Safety".  You chose a dangerous career, but that does not mean that I have to give up my right to be treated innocent until proven guilty just so that you can feel safe while doing that dangerous job.

Note:  Apparently, many other people have complained directly, because the organization is taking a second look and the "awareness" has reached the Governor's office.