Never been a serious constitutional challenge to the general authority of police, heĪlso cites legal scholar Roger Roots, who has written that for more than a century Rhetorical question: ∺re cops constitutional? Although he says that here has 336).īalko prefaces his accessible history of early American policing with a provocative We might forgive someoneįor concluding differently based on the frightening erosion of due process rights andĪmplification of state power Balko documents, although he is correct that it wouldīe foolish to wait until it becomes to get concerned (p. His newest book carries immense potency, page after page delivering incisive andĮnraging indictments of modern law enforcement trends. His reporting on policeĪbuses helped save a man from death row and never ceases to raise blood pressures. Warrior Cop: The Militarization of Americas Police Forces. Journalist Radley Balko provides some of this valuable history in Rise of the Bushs war on terror, but recent news hasīegun to awaken Americans across the spectrum to the danger posed by cops. Their criticisms subsided during George W. The right that federal law enforcement was becoming militaristic and excessively violent. Conservatives favored stronger police powers through theġ980s in the next decade, disasters such as Ruby Ridge and Waco convinced many on Left radicals in the 1960sĭecried their militarism. There exists no broad coalition critiquing domestic police. Single Issues of The Independent Review.

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The warrior cop