Quote:Well, I'm not one to dispute your claims, but I've never seen military vehicles at a county fair unless they were there as exhibition.  I also find it hard to believe that 3-4 fully decked out riot squad police officers walked into Walgreens every night.  They wore their shields and gas masks/helmets and brought in their tear gas and shotguns and everything?  Or were they just in their body armor?

 

DUI check points' constitutionality are constantly being brought to court.  I'll give you that one.  Stop and Frisk is also another unconstitutional practice.  There are a few places where politicians have overstepped their bounds.  In general though, Everyday Joe Cop can't force Everyday Joe Citizen to move out of his way or come over to him unless a law is suspected of being broken.  You aren't obligated to move if a cop tells you to unless you're loitering or obstructing.

 

The officers wore body armor, Two carried a shot gun, and the other two didn't carry weapons into the store. All four of them had smoke or tear gas grenades. I asked them one day what they did, they told me they serve warrants to high risk targets. It was during the midnight shift so it made sense but I'm just talking about personally experiences. 

 

DUI check points and stop and frisk may very well be unconstitutional but it's still used every day. You're legally obligated to move when an officer puts on his sirens and lights. It's the position of power they hold that makes militarizing them so dangerous. 

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