Had to go up to Maine for a wedding. On the way home we stopped for gas at one of the rest areas on the highway, and as we were pulling in a state trooper pulled in right beside us. I was shocked that when he got out he was wearing army fatigues.

I have never seen this before and I have to wonder if this is happening in any other state. The reason I think this is important is because if this is happening in other states, I cannot help but wonder if they are softening the public for military presense/police state.

We all know how this works. They start to implement something a bit dubious until people start to complain, then they hold up for a while, while people get used to it, then they push a bit more.

Just how will people be able to differentiate between military personnel and police personnel? Or in the end will it not matter? Will they actually be one in the same? We are heading this way anyway, guess I may as well get used to it.

Papers Please!!!!

CrimsonEagle

Makes one wonder, doesn't it? Was he coming off-duty and going "hunting" or was he on duty and sporting a new state uniform?

Here in NC, the STs are still wearing their gray uniforms.

Catherine

He was part of the state patrol k-9 unit with dog in the back and his name and other information was on it just like it would be in the military. Lol, Unfortunately my eyes must be going because I was having a hard time reading the information on the outfit. Didn't realize how hard it was to read black on cammo. I was tempted to ask him why he was in that uniform but my wife gets nervous when I do "stupid" things like that.

As far as the gray uniforms go, it is still the same here in CT. 'shrugs', don't know, could be nothing, could be something. Perhaps I am becoming a bit paranoid, but I do feel that it is with good reason in the light of the fact that our constitution is being shredded and ignored. It is just a "God damned piece of paper" after all

CrimsonEagle

The police are now referring to us as "Civilians". This militarized nomenclature certainly tells us how they are mtivated and how they view themselves.

I was watching a show on TV about protesters, who were yelling slogans about Bush. They flashed on the police in their military style swat uniforms who were idly laughing and exchanging trite comments about the crowd.

They view themselves as the first line of defense between the establishment and the mob,(us) and have been known to call the lower classes "The Breeding Ground". When police are paid more than teachers it is a certainty that we are living in a police state. The teachers are considered "Prison Guards" to our reprobate young transient children, while the police are viewed as more critical to social control and correction.

I'll have to run that one by my policeman son, DO.g's, and see what his reaction will be, since he was raised by a teacher.

As far as teachers being 'prison guards' in the opinion of the reprobate young transient children, I figure some of those students are just practicing up for their future place of abode.

Catherine

I heard a report that 1 in 36 Americans end up in jail, so I thought this might fit. Each one has one thing in common- forced schooling.

I wonder what the figure is for policemen? How many police are there in America now?

Crimson Eagle wrote:



CE, my son, who is a Texas policeman, called a few minutes ago. During our conversation, I asked him why a state trooper driving a state car would be wearing what looked like cammo instead of uniforms that we're used to seeing them wear.

My son said that most K-9 personnel dress like that (he called the uniform BDUs) because these officers are working with dogs in what are sometimes dirty situations and conditions. The dogs get dirty and thus the officer is more likely to get dirty. Wearing a dress uniform like we see the regular state troopers wear isn't practical when working with the K-9 unit. He went on to tell me that the K-9 officers in his town choose to wear either cammo or a black, easily washed BDU type of uniform.

I hope this makes you feel better about what you saw in Maine. It makes sense and I know it makes me feel better.




I don't know, DO.g's, but this was interesting. Not only are there the regular police, troopers, etc. but then we have all of the other "policing" organizations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policing_i ... ted_States

Catherine

Here's some things that caught my eye from that URL you posted-

There are approximately 18,000 autonomous police agencies.
40,000 men and women of the New York City Police Department.

Here's a report list from the UK from 2005 for 2003- figures of different countries in the world. Here's the numbers of police officers per 100,000 head of population according to the House of Commons report.

Portugal 481
Greece 426
France 397
Austria 330
Spain 312
Ireland 302
Luxembourg 300
Netherlands 269
Germany 262
USA 238
England and Wales 235
Australia 228
Japan 208
Korea 204
Switzerland 201
Denmark 195
Norway 192
Turkey 190
New Zealand 185
Canada 184
Belgium 183
Sweden 181
Italy 169
Finland 154
India 134

This may be smoke and mirrors as this is probably only active policemen and not all the branches of law enforcement included.

These were from the year 2000 so they may have gone up or down since then. It seems impossible to get an accurate figure on how many police, all services, are in the US now, but judging from the figures that New York has, it is a small army. As I said, they are the first line of defense, and if civil unrest gets out of hand, then there's the National Guard, then the armed forces after that.

Here's a term I got off one site- They call officers of the rank of Inspector (Organ Grinder) down to Constable (Monkey).

Yes, much better. Thank you for the clarification.