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In America, we have a law called Posse Comitatus, which keeps the military separate from law enforcement.

There’s a very good reason for this: The military is intended to fight foreign enemies and law enforcement is supposed to protect our own citizens.

One of America’s problems is that our military polices the world and law enforcement is militarized. Militarization of the police inevitably means that law enforcement is at war with the people.

But let’s change perspectives a bit. This policy is not only dangerous to the people, it’s dangerous to those individuals in law enforcement, too.

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The militarization of police is a major contributing factor to the growing police state in America. History shows that no good has come from any police state. In fact, the greatest crimes against humanity have come at the hands of the police state.

The other major contributing factor is big government. Big government creates laws, not just against crimes involving victims, but against our vices, mistakes, addictions, mental illnesses, our annoying neighbors and so much more. These laws range from borderline reasonable to beyond ridiculous. Police officers are then expected to be our tax collectors, mediators, warriors, etc.

Requires police state

Big government requires a police state; you can’t escape it.

For each law made, our government requires an enforcing agent to ensure compliance to the law. So while many people support laws intended to curtail our vices, mistakes, addictions, mental illnesses, annoying neighbors, etc., big government is then, in effect, heaping the burdens of humanity on a relatively small group of human beings. There is only one human being in all of human history who has the capacity to carry the burdens of humanity, and he doesn’t wear a police uniform.

If we want big government, then we can’t demilitarize; but if we want demilitarization, then we must shrink government.

Dangerous enough

In a free society, police peace officers voluntarily put themselves in a position to come face-to-face with those who have no problem violating the life, liberty and property of others, and that’s dangerous enough.

Not only are they supposed to protect the rights of victims, but the rights of the accused as well. This is a hard enough job without government requiring that they also manage the burdens for which we ourselves want to relinquish our responsibility.

In fact, in a free society, the citizenry cannot relinquish their responsibilities without surrendering their rights; rights and responsibilities are inseparable.

In Rio Rancho, we are blessed to have an upstanding police department, but we shouldn’t be foolish enough to think the corruption that is happening in Albuquerque, can’t happen here. We should call on our elected officials to remove the added burdens of humanity so that our police can focus on what really matters.

In fact, if we don’t change our own city now, then the corruption of our own police department is inevitable.

It comes as no surprise that police officers have their own share of vices, mistakes, addictions, mental illnesses, annoying neighbors, etc. They’re not perfect; they’re our friends, family and neighbors. They are as much a part of the community as anyone else, and deepening the divide only results in enmity within a community.

Cruel alternative

Frederick Bastiat said, “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.” May I suggest that when law and morality contradict each other, the police officer has the cruel alternative of losing his respect for the people, or losing respect for the uniform?

So, this is my call to our elected officials, at every level of government, beginning with our city council: It’s time to repeal and nullify laws that add a burden above and beyond the call of duty, so that our police can safely demilitarize. No victim, no crime! You are the only people that can peacefully defuse the police state and bridge the gap between police officer and citizen through the simple act of limiting government.

No amount of new laws can fix this problem. No amount of broadening police power will either.

(Kerry Adams is a libertarian Christian and blogger who writes about politics and religion at mereliberty.com in Rio Rancho. Observer readers can watch for her column, “Mere Liberty,” on the first Sunday of each month.)