Dunno why your LEO's are like that... They've all sworn to defend the Constitution... including the states' Doubtful many of 'em have ever bothered to read the state constitution tho if they're still doin' that stuff. Attitudes become endemic thuout LEA's tho 'n cops are just as likely to react on anecdotal info as anybody else. As I recall... it tended to rain a lot up there... (nasty weather).QUOTE]
It’s because the state doesn’t enforce or re-enforce the guardian ethos that they originally trained them to uphold. "Under color of law" is far too often allowed to be defined by the rules of the road instead of the law of the land.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. All Washington LEOs needs to be fully de-authoritized (my word) when they are off duty. If they are held to the same laws across the board as the people they serve, they will begin to understand what it is to be the common man on the street. Make them get CPLs like everyone else if they want to carry off duty, and hold them to not being able to carry in the same places. No badges or LEO id allowed to be carried off duty, and no arrest authority when off duty.
Not only will the LE culture change, but the type of person attracted to the profession will also shift. It won’t happen overnight, but things would change in everyone’s favor.
Society tends to forget that LEOs are civilians too, and should not be allowed to hold themselves apart from the civilian populous they are suppose to be serving and protecting.
