Those of us who live in the Chicago area are accustomed to incidents of criminal behavior by individual policeman. Los Angeles has also had well publicized problems over the years. Radley Balko points to an incident of abuse of power in a small town. (via Instapundit of course: I don't think he sleeps)
One is warned by these kinds of news stories to remember the most dangerous thing most people face is their own government. Americans are lucky because we live in a country where our rights are protected relatively well, but the point is still true. The obvious danger of a Saddam Hussein or an Idi Amin tends to be attached to them personally but their power comes from being head of the govrnment and having control over police, military, and taxation. All governments, benign or otherwise, impose their will with the authority to arrest and imprison. Police have the legal right to point a gun at you. This is the reason I support the right to bear arms.
Anytime we read about abuse of power or intimidation by police we need to overreact and have those police officials removed from office. We endanger ourselves by failing to respond.
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