The great Tom Woods!  No way can explain the inter-workings of the police state in such an uplifting manner like Tom Woods.  Now I know why the police have hard time catching murderers but seem to excellent at harassing the public. I always sort of expected some of these reasons but Tom Woods lays it out in such a great way it is now obvious to me.  The police really do not have much a motive to catch murderers.  Especially when low murder conviction rate is under reported.  But the drug war!  That is where the money is!  Police departments do not get federal money for catching murderers, rapists, and other dangerous criminals but non-violent drug offenders better watch out!  This is because of the staggering amount of money linked to the drug war.  The more drug convictions, the more money and grants flow from the federal government.  Most of these grants seem come in the form military weapons and equipment so that our average peace officer is bristling with more firepower than a Marine in the Battle of Fallujah.  Human nature being what it is, police start acting like they are exactly that when dealing with the civilian population of the U.S.

Watch Tom Woods to find out all the cool military weapons like grenade launchers and tanks owned by your local police!