Zonie63
Posts: 2826
Joined: 4/25/2011 From: The Old Pueblo Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63 But that should go just as much for the feds as much as the locals. The feds are often worse. That's why I'm so confused as to why people seem to put more trust in the centralized federal government. At least, I have friends in the local power structure, so if the local cops give me a hard time, then I know who to call. I can deal with local cops on much more reasonable level According to your profile, you are a Caucasian male - so it is not illogical to assume that you "have friends in the local power structure, so if the local cops give you a hard time, then you know who to call". I’m a Caucasian male myself and in the town where I live, I "have friends in the local power structure, so if the local cops give me a hard time, then I know who to call". If you were an American citizen of Hispanic origin living in the same town in Arizona as you live in, or a legal Hispanic visitor to the United States who is passing through your town in Arizona, you may have no buddies in the local power structure. If you were an American citizen of Hispanic origin living in the same town in Arizona as you live in, you probably don't belong to the same church or the same Masonic lodge or even play golf at the same country club as the "local power structure". I wouldn't be so sure of that. There are quite a few highly placed Hispanics here, too, including the chief of police. Tucson is not the same as Phoenix. Our two cities are as different as night and day. I know when you guys back east always hear about Arizona, you tend to make assumptions about the entire state as being all the same, but it's not. The Phoenix metro area has 60% of the population and controls the legislature and state government. The rest of the state is a mixed bag. Tucson is a rather diverse and somewhat liberal, compared to Phoenix. Democrats are a majority down here (although that doesn't really mean all that much in the grand scheme of things). We're much more laid back, too. When I was in high school, we used to affectionately refer to our city "Too Stoned, Arizona." Guess why. quote:
If you were an American citizen of Hispanic origin living in the same town in Arizona as you live in, you are, in the eyes of the "local power structure" an "other", someone who is automatically assumed to be an “alien” until proven otherwise and clearly not to be accorded the same rights and privileges as a Caucasian - even if that Hispanic’s family have been American citizens for two or three generations longer than the Caucasian and his family. I think I have a pretty good handle on how things are in my own town. We have our share of problems and quite a lot of local corruption and gross incompetence in both city and county governments. You'd really have to visit here and spend some time to get a feel for things, as the national media seems to give a confused picture of how things are in Arizona, mainly because the whole state is overshadowed by that crowd up in Phoenix. quote:
Having grown up in a major metropolitan city in the 1950’s and 1960’s with one of the most corrupt police forces in the world (Philadelphia, PA) and having lived in various small towns in Texas, Louisiana and Colorado over the years, I trust Federal law enforcement and state police far more than I trust a local Barney Fife/Dudley-Do-Right. The more local a cop is, the more likely he/she is to be in the pocket of the "local power structure". The chief of police in a small town isn't going to investigate a complaint properly against one of his cops if the same cop is his brother-in-law or cousin. Federal and state law enforcement have higher standards and more oversight. Well, for one thing, Tucson isn't really a small town. But one thing I've observed is that the higher one goes in the police hierarchy, the more arrogance one finds and a lack of accountability. If I really had a problem with the local police, it would not be impossible for me to make an appointment and set up a meeting with the chief of police (or some other local official) to discuss it. It would much easier than getting to see the FBI director (as one example), who would be almost untouchable by comparison. Local governments are far more accessible and flexible as well, whereas to change anything in federal law enforcement would (literally) require an act of Congress. Why do you think the FBI is far more feared as a police organization? Nobody fears the local cops; as you say, they're "Barney Fife." People view local yokels as a joke - not to be taken seriously, while the FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE (or even the IRS, for that matter) send chills up people's spines. I won't even go into the CIA or the U.S. military (both of which are hated and feared world-wide).
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