Are Cops really just legally hired thugs??

That makes perfect sense. They are essential services and should be the last to be cut. But budget decisions have a much bigger impact on small towns. I know of small towns that cannot fund police on the midnight shift, and have to rely on the state police for coverage during those hours. And I know of quite a few volunteer fire departments.

Well no one forces you to live anywhere it's a free country. The whole point of a small town is it lacks people. Therefore you have alot of space to move around unimpeded. If you dont like the lack of services move to a bigger town.

One is a public worker, the other a private employee. Hard to compare.

Ok since you are concerned with the salaries of police officers, then perhas we should raise taxes or cut other services? Perhaps we should not make police essential services and have private companies do it ? Please. That would be a real bad thing.

How can you make such irresponsible statements about their motives?

I'm not saying they are "bad" people. But in their heart of hearts they want violence and action. Why do you think sports are so popular? Popularity in football is at an all time high because it's action packed and violent! I'm not saying that police officers don't get a high off of helping the public... but on a deeper psychological level they are helping themselves to what they want... and that is to "get bad guys" or "be in control" or motives like that.

Writing jaywalking tickets is an infinitesmally small part of their jobs. How about wrestling with some AIDS junkie who is trying to scratch you and spit on you?

As for the taser incident, those were university police. And the kid was a jerk; he deserved what he got.

Well I never made them be anything. They chose the profession. If wrestling AIDS junkes are part of it then that's a calculated risk. Risks are part of life and some of us choose to live less conservatively than others I suppose.

As for the taser incident, I guess you feel like if someone refuses to leave a library, it's appropiate to taser him even if the taser kills him. So what's next? Tasered for jaywalking?

Originally posted by Scramjet76
The truth is I'm a better driver at 75mph than many people are at 60mph. Out of the 5 traffic infractions I've received since getting my license well over a decade ago, 2-3 of them were just picky cops trying to meet a quota and steal my money for the gov't!

Speedlimits are made for a reason, the first time you see a high speed wreck where someone dies you will think twice, I only hope it isnt you. As for quotas in all my years of law enforcement I was never given a quota, nor do I know anyone else who was given a quota. Rookies try to pull over as many people as they can.