> how many times has a cop been shot when knocking on a door during a routine
> noise ordinance violation? i'll betcha the number of times approaches zip
> zero zilch nada.
>
My work has sometimes brought me into a fair amount of contact with the police, about whom I have very mixed feelings, though I've learned how to work them when necessary. Actually, I often try to point out to them that their arrogant, cowboy nonsense really hinders them in their more legitimate tasks, inasmuch as it makes people distrust and dislike them. The better ones know this. I have a friend who retired as a detective lieutenant, and who lives ten or so blocks from where they killed Amadou Diallo. When that happened he said he felt afraid, because, as a black man, it could have been him. Many many more examples, of course.
Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema