Letters to the Editor
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What about ever-expanding "police forces"?
Another contribution to this issue that no one in the media has mentioned is the growing number of "police forces" in this country.
Every college, every public school district, almost every agency of local, state and federal governments has armed people with police powers.
No one actually knows how many there are. Some years ago, Thom Marshall then of the Houston Chronicle tried to get a count of the number of agencies with their own police forces and was unable to get an accurate count, although he got up to about 140 separate police forces, as I recall (some agencies wouldn't confirm--thanks public servants).
The tasering incident is a good example. Here there were what, 6 7, 8 officers taking down this guy, which means that there were probably more officers that weren't on camera. All this at a lecture with maybe 200 people at best.
This is not just excessive force--it is excessive police forces.
Consider the implication of that.