I really do believe that we're living in a time of quasi Marshall Law.
Ever since terrorism became a perceived threat to the everyday citizen, law enforcement and the government have used the "it's for your own good" line to justify all sorts of civil rights breaches.
Just look at the case with Edward Snowden and PRISM.
This is a guy who's conscience got the better of him, and he felt he could no longer stay quiet about the US government essentially spying on us all for no good reason.
And yet he's the ones that's being hunted down and vilified for speaking the truth.
I'm very grateful for all the work that the government and the police do to protect society, but I also strongly believe that with power comes responsibility.
And fear-mongering to increase control and justify extreme measures will only create a resentment and contempt.
Back to the stop and search powers that cops have - I really do feel like they are being overused.
I used to live in a part of London that had a particularly high crime rate, and I'm pretty certain police used to go down there and stop people at random (or because of the way they look to be more precise). I'm sure this was in the hope that they'd "strike it lucky" and hit some sort of arrest target without having to make much of an effort.
Police stop and search powers gone crazy
One really shocking example I saw online recently was the story of two women pulled over by traffic cops in Texas for throwing cigarette butts out of the windows (not that big a deal anyway).
Not only were they pulled over, but the officer also accused them of possessing marijuana - and ordered that they undergo a cavity search - in the middle of the road!
Take a look for yourself and tell me whether this is police abuse of power or not:
Luckily, the women involved are suing!
Maybe this is just a rare high-profile cases that has made the news. But I still feel there's this sense that law enforcement officers these days act like they're above the law.