America needs more cops, but not how McArdle suggests

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 14, 2023

I have admired and enjoyed Megan McArdle’s columns in the Herald for years, but there’s one she didn’t think through (“America Needs Fewer Jail Cells But More Cops,” The Herald, June 7).

Her basic premise — a national research and training program with incentives will enhance the recruitment of well-trained police — is sound. I agree that more police on the job to make arrests is the best approach to the increase in serious crime.

However, such a federal program is dangerously close to becoming a National Police Force subject to the whims of politics du jour and the powerful who primarily serve themselves.

For historical evidence, one only needs to consider Hitler’s creation of the Brown Shirts, the SS and the Gestapo.

Think about it more, McArdle. You could open the door to a true and ugly police state for the Good ‘Ole USA that is controlled by Washington, D.C.

Andy Branca

Camano Island