We've been discussing paper assignments in my 2301 and 2302 classes and some students have expressed interests in pursuing questions regarding aggressive police behavior. While we like the idea that the police around to save us from bad guys, we're stuck if the bad guys turn out to be the police themselves.
Here's a disturbing Washington Post story about suspicions that some DC police would cause problems at the inauguration:
In the days leading up to President Obama's inauguration, U.S. law enforcement agencies huddled regularly in an effort to minimize any possible security risk to an event that promised record crowds for the country's first black president. But one agenda item led authorities to a target close to home: the ranks of the U.S. Capitol Police.
An FBI investigation that included taped surveillance had placed two off-duty veteran Capitol Police officers in the company of individuals whose racial views and capacity for violence were under scrutiny. Although the recorded discussion did not center on Obama, federal law enforcement officials wanted to ensure that the officers were not on duty covering the Capitol, where the president took the oath of office, according to two sources involved in the matter.
