Uhh yeah, he said see you next independence day, as in there's another march coming next year. Where's the dangerous threat in that?

I think what most people don't know about Waco was that Koresh actually wasn't a nut case. He was manipulative and certainly eccentric. But he didn't really represent a threat to the community.

What most people don't know about that is that law enforcement had *ACTUALLY* stopped by the premises a couple of times and successfully engaged him in negotiations that had lead to several compromise. Koresh had no interest in pursuing any sort of a standoff and was actively working with government representatives to bring his compound and his behavior in line with safety regulations.

"Interesting. Hopefully you can understand why I came to the conclusion that raising police pay improves the quality of the police force."

If there's one thing Americans should have learned over the last 50-60 years, it's that throwing money at a problem never fixes anything. All it does is turn a problem into an *expensive* problem.

"Tell me, in your opinion, what is the best way to improve the quality of law enforcement?"

I don't know that there's a silver bullet, but a few things that I think would help substantially would be:
1) Make police officers personally (or at least communally) liable for legal settlements & judgments for misconduct, instead of leaving taxpayers with the bill
2) Make extending "professional courtesy" (the practice of looking the other way at police officers who commit vehicular and other minor crimes committed by police officers) a crime.
3) Require a civilian authority like a grand jury to investigate all allegations of serious misconduct (as they used to do), instead of having the police investigate themselves
4) Strip the police of many of the special legal rights & privileges they have acquired (in California, for instance, a "Peace Officers' Bill of Rights" contains all manner of extraordinary legal protections for police officers - among others, admissions to criminal conduct are inadmissible as evidence in court).
5) End drug prohibition
6) Prohibit police officers from publicly supporting political candidates

Mostly, though, I think the main problem is cultural. Police officers in America are still idolized by a substantial portion of the population, who will never cease to excuse even the most egregious criminal misconduct. These people always get on juries, and hence, it is nearly impossible to get convictions for police misconduct. This is changing, though - polls have shown that popularity of and trust in police officers is clearly declining. The problem is that I think we're past the point where the police would idly sit back and allow themselves to be stripped of any of their powers and privileges in any meaningful way - as the pendulum swings far enough that the public will demand changes and real accountability, I fear serious violence would be inevitable, and all sorts of unpredictable things happen when swords (or rifles) start being drawn.

"If there's one thing Americans should have learned over the last 50-60 years, it's that throwing money at a problem never fixes anything. All it does is turn a problem into an *expensive* problem."

+1

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/10/militarized_police_overreach_oh_god_i_thought_they_were_going_to_shoot_me_next”/

Shit, not even a MAYOR can get him some justice when the death squads improperly raid his house. Get this: not only did the cops not apologize, they "clarified" that they DIDN'T apologize, and further clarified that they didn't have to.

Fuck your two dead dogs, mayor. Fuck your mother- in-law. Fuck your front door and the rest of your house. That shit don't count. What does count is making sure that people don't believe that cops make mistakes... Until they get caught making one, in which case your understanding and forgiveness is EXPECTED, if not DEMANDED.

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/watch?v=h2YgZX9Thm0

Reading the whole story, he did eventually get some justice, but not enough if you ask me. I say and eye for an eye. He should be allowed to take the dog from the cop on the phone and it become his. Every cop who came in the place should have to forfeit their pets and he can choose the ones he wants and, if he chooses, shoot the others right there in front of the cops who owned them or sned them off to shelters to be adopted by others with those cops banned for life from ever owning a pet.. *That*, my friends, is justice.

SWAT cops love shooting dogs. Terriers, Labs, Chihuahuas, doesn't matter. They never get disciplined for it as long as they claim that they somehow felt threatened.