Why Baltimore's black community turned on police | UTSanDiego.com

As I retired USAF officer, I shouldn't be intimidated when talking to a police officer.  But I believe I am!  Every time I've asked an officer on duty a question, I have received some sort of "mind your own business" type of answer, even when it was clear that the officer wasn't doing anything important.  When walking or driving past an officer, I always make sure I'm on "best behavior" because I know that they are looking for any excuse to write a ticket.  That is their job!  That is how they are rated and evaluated.  That personal experience probably also rubs off on children as well.  For example when mom says: "Slow down, there's a police officer"  or "hide your beer, there's a cop patrolling the beach." it sets an example for children that they should watch out for police.  The days when parents try to teach their kids that "the policeman is your friend." seem to be over!  Police actions such as DUI checkpoints, random car searches, and stops for "broken taillights seem almost frightening when I am the subject.  This is my experience as a white male interacting generally with a white police officer in a suburban neighborhood.  The relationship between citizens and police is a complicated "love/hate" one at best in most communities.  We expect them to protect us against the "other people" --

However, I find it very hard to imagine how difficult it must be for police in inner-city locations like Baltimore in dealing with the public.  Minority children see first hand how dangerous it can be to interact with police.  The "drug war" provides citizens and children frequent opportunities to see police taking action against their friends and neighbors.

This feature in the Sunday May 2nd San Diego Union Tribune points out some of the problems that helped create the mistrust in Baltimore:



Why Baltimore's black community turned on police | UTSanDiego.com



I have no doubt that recreational drugs are a scourge on society.  They destroy lives, damage family relationships and impact health and safety of all of us.  But I really believe that the "war on drugs" is worse than the drugs themselves.  The "war" causes users to switch to drugs that are more dangerous, less stable, and more concentrated.  Because there now are so many people employed due to the war on drugs, and so many businesses are making money selling stuff to fight the "war" it will be very difficult to change.  Any attempt to reduce the anti-drug effort immediately gets fought by groups such as prison guard unions, police departments, prosecutors, as well as companies that sell drones.