I stopped reading this piece after this sentance. I live one block away from a where a mother of two was shot to death by the police when she was unarmed and presented no danger to the police. I've been stopped, questioned, and run for warrants one block from my house because "I looked suspicious" walking home. I've been aggressively accused of a insignificant crime I didn't commit standing on my front porch reading a newspaper, a crime I probably could have helped solve if the officer hadn't approached me with a "I know you were the one who did it" line. I've called in a guy who I watched testing every car door handle on my street to find an unlocked door, seen the police give him a stern talking to and send him on his way after I said I'd testify. I've seen the police in my neighborhood take twenty minutes to respond to three youths shooting a pistol over the freeway next to my house. The last thing I want is cops all over my neighborhood. Maybe Aaron Bady has a good point to make but his intro has no relation to how I view my safety and the police.Look, we’d all love to have actual police patrolling every neighborhood in the country
I think the author is attempting sarcasm but that doesn't become clear (and it's still a bit murky tbh) until the end of the article. I agree in that I couldn't relate and was kind of turned off by the whole thing, whether sarcastic/humorous or not.
I hope (think) the author was kidding. a police state might just have something to do with having a lot of police. 40% of oaklands budget is cops.