What You Get For Your Law Enforcement Tax Dollar

First, comes the story of an ISP raided by the FBI - with, so far, no indication given as to cause or consequence (outside shutting down the provider's datacenter for the time being).

Second, there's an interesting article on how Utah is funding a programme to help its officers sweat out their crystal meth habits.

Third is an item on how two drunk sheriffs here in Tampa Bay who were let go after what would have been a DUI traffic stop.

And last is the tale of a Texas police chief who tasered his wife.

I have the greatest respect for law enforcement in general. But I've had less than pleasant encounters with them in the past, most notably an assault I witnessed in California where the PD arrested the victim instead of the assailant. So while I'm willing to give them the benefit of at least some doubt, these stories taken together tell a tale of presumed privilege and police-state practices that make one shudder. And while these are taken from a variety of US national sources, their relative immediacy - all in the last six months, and three of them in the last week - is alarming.

H/T Wolfrum.