> Behalf Of Adam C. Lipscomb
> Gautam wrote:
> Based upon the above, then, do you feel that officers that violate
the trust
> between the police and the public (through corruption, use of
excessive
> force or other crimes) should be punished more harshly?
>
> Adam C. Lipscomb
Absolutely. Well, I'm not sure what you mean by more harshly,
exactly, since use of force by a citizen in anything but self-defense
is a crime by definition, while such is not necessarily the case for a
police officer. But in general, yes, with the special trust and
powers accorded to police officers come special responsibilities.
Police officers who violate the law are, in many ways, the worst of
all offenders, because they erode the trust that people should have in
government in general and law enforcement in particular, and as such,
they attack the very basis of society itself.
********************Gautam "Ulysses" Mukunda**********************
* Harvard College Class of '01 *He either fears his fate too much*
* www.fas.harvard.edu/~mukunda * Or his deserts are small, *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Who dares not put it to the touch*
* "Freedom is not Free" * To win or lose it all. *
******************************************************************
