Sometimes I watch these old police detective stories on television...

[kentuck]

...like Highway Patrol, with Broderick Crawford. They take me back to a more innocent time, when even criminals were treated with a certain degree of respect and humanity.

In none of the shows, even when they are arresting an alleged murderer, do they force the criminal face down in the street? Unlike the police in today's society, even if you are just a jaywalker, they will tackle you and force you to the ground with your face in the dirt. Every criminal is treated the same. Total lack of human respect, guilty or not?

I see the cruel tactics of ICE and other government police agencies, and they totally abuse the citizens of this country as if we are all living in a banana dictator republic.

Anyone else notice?

[Irish_Dem]

1. US used to have rule of law and innocent until proven guilty.

No more.

[Ilsa]

2. I park my car like Broderick Crawford!

Rush, slam on brakes, angled to take up 3 spaces.

[Silent Type]

3. As long as we allow just about anyone to carry a pistol or knife, we'll see people taken down and handcuffed.

But, yeah, I love the old police stories including Highway patrol. Detectives usually take people into custody differently from someone who just beat someone up, shot a pistol, etc.

I do support cameras and charges against police who go too far.

[David__77]

4. There were more decent cops then. There were still tons of brutal criminals among them.

The era of post-WW2 civility (which was mainly for whites only) is basically over.

[samnsara]

5. I have a huge box of my grandfathers hand written notepads he used when he was assistant chief of Police

..in a very small town in central Washington state. Think Jack Webb and 'just the facts maam'....He was one of the 'good cops'.

[lostnfound]

6. Absa-fing-lutely

They weren’t so decent to lots of people. But there is a value in at least a pretense of civility because it at least encouraged similar behavior in others and set some standard to defend or publicly point to.

Now it is brutality as a new normal.

[msongs]

7. tv shows were extremely sanitized in those days. nt

[Elessar Zappa]

8. There was no golden age.

Cops were horrible in the old days. Suspects were regularly beaten because there were no cameras.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I watch a lot of cop videos these days, the ones

where someone is stopped usually for a traffic violation. It's astonishing how many people don't have a clue that they really need to do what the officer asks.

And they NEVER start by dragging someone out of the car. That only happens when the person refuses to get out. If they get dragged out, then they get thrown on the ground. If they get out when asked? No, they don't get thrown on the ground.

I'm sure body cams have greatly improved police behavior.