J.D. Tuccille on the Madness of Law Enforcement’s Escalating Brutality

Law-enforcement excesses grab an ever-growing
share of headlines. Doors kicked in, people killed, dogs shot,
phone lines tapped, curfews imposed—they’re all examples of
official overreaching at that unpleasant intersection of private
activity and state disapproval. For some people, the implication of
such abuses is that more scrutiny and the right people in charge
will make law enforcement an enterprise which people need not fear.
But that’s not necessarily the case, writes J.D. Tuccille. It may
be that lawmakers have assigned law-enforcers goals so
frustratingly elusive that even angels couldn’t resist the
temptation to escalate tactics to insane extremes, trampling
liberty and decency along the way.

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