What worries me

We have a tradition for honest cops in this country (ok, maybe not in the big cities; Chicago, Boston, LA, New York, and DC have a somewhat different history). I think that the next couple of years might find some stress being placed on this ideal.

Cops have gotten used to a pretty sweet deal in this country. As a rule, they get paid pretty damn well. In a sense, this pay structure supports the ideal of good cops. They have also got pretty sweet deals in the retirement end of the pay structure.

With the serious shortfalls we are facing and will probably continue to face, the cops pay, benefits and retirement will probably come under attack. Therein lies the problem. I kind of doubt if the police in the US are a set of plaster saints. When they have something taken from them that they see as their due, they will make up the lack elsewhere.

The corruption that we see elsewhere in the world is not a function of the people there being somehow less than we are, it is a function of perceived unfulfilled needs of the functionary class. While we have a lack of that same corruption here, it is a function of it not being sufficiently profitable to have corruption rampart on a retail level.

I think that we will see quite a bit of difference in how local government act towards its constituents in the near future.