Radley Balko traces the arc of US law enforcement from the constables and private justice of colonial times to present-day SWAT teams and riot cops. Today relentless 'war on drugs' and 'war on terror' pronouncements from politicians, along with battle-clad police forces with tanks and machine guns, have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. Balko shows how martial rhetoric and reactionary policies have put modern law enforcement on a collision course with the values of a free society
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