General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Drones: Do I have a line in the sand? [View all]Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)The police always have judicial oversight.
First, the use of force criteria are public knowlege rather than secret. Nor is it acceptable for an officer to use ANY force beyond the absolute minimum necessary to end any immediate danger. When an officer kills a suspect it is public knowlege, the facts and details of the shooting are public, the DA's office makes a public decision about whether or not to prosecute, and if they decide to prosecute that trial is public. Whether they prosecute or not, the victim's family has the opportunity to seek civil damages from the officer, the city, county, even the state.
Police officers are NOT allowed to secretly select people that they believe might be bad guys, and then on their own, with no warrant, no oversight, no judicial review, track the suspect down and kill that suspect and everyone around them. They are not allowed to kill people, even really bad people, who do not pose an immediate life-threatening danger. They are not allowed to say, "I am sure that guy's dirty! I am going to break into his home tonight and kill him and his family while they sleep."
This is the power OUR President is claiming that secret government officials now possess.
The power to kill anyone, anywhere, that they -- with no oversight or review -- decide might be a potential danger. Further, they claim the power to be free even from QUESTIONS or public scrutiny about how this unimaginable power has been used. Finally, were this not bad enough, they claim that this new power not only applies to the people on their secret lists, but to everyone in the vacinity of that person. Friends, neighbors, the kids from next door, the girl scout delivering cookies, all are fair game and can be killed at will whenever one of these employees decides they need to die for the cause.
And if that doesn't scare the shit out of you, it should. This is not a game. This is real.
And it will ONLY get worse from here.