<<There are protests, even riots, over this. >>

We do have them but usually it seems for only the most extreme cases. Someone has to get shot usually before people are outraged or even concerned. Or it has to be a deaf person with a learning disability getting tased for a significant amount of people to care. And it feels like (at least to me that is) it is the same immigrant, minority, hippie, alternative lifestyle folks who are always doing the protesting. Not that they don't matter but what about everyone else? I think it some places like the Bay Area and West LA and Portland etc... it can seem like a lot of people care but I am not so convinced that these pockets of population represent enough of the general population.

<<However. When I was in my hippie "alternative" high school, they offered a class that I took called "Street Law". It primarily focused on the 4th Amendment (search & seizure), and what the police could and could not legally demand of you. It didn't end up being incredibly relevant to me personally, as I rarely have anything in my possession that is illegal, but what it *did* do is encourage me to understand my rights and have confidence in the face of attempted police intimidation. I think if more courses were offered to high-school and college-age students identifying their personal rights, kids may grow up with a better sense of confidence around police.>>


That would be great if classes like that were more widespread. I'm not sure everyone really understands their personal rights and why they are important to maintain.

<<What's going to be beneficial in the face of uncalled-for brutality, I don't know... >>

Yeah, I'm not sure either but maybe if more people understood their rights they would be more outraged when they see how often they are being violated.

Anne - "Well, to address your question: I guess I haven't responded on this thread because it doesn't seem to me like the public *is* all hunky-dory with police abuses of power. There are protests, even riots, over this."

I tend to agree - plus many of those of us who have been discussing this topic are people who clearly aren't okay with it and some of us have engaged in (successfully) changing some police policy/behavior (though changing policy doesn't always mean attitudes or actions actually change) and have already discussed this. Also it's almost always citizen activism/action that provides evidence of police brutality (thanks to the increased access to video technology) and publicizes it (thanks to the internet). Besides, knowing your rights means nothing when dealing with police who don't care about your rights (not surprisingly, the kinds of cops who abuse power clearly aren't ones who actually act as they're meant to and respect rights).