Nationwide erosion of personal rights has nothing to do with the police, and everything to do with our President and lawmakers. For all their heavy-handedness the cops weren't moving beyond the law, they just treated this ride as a protest march. Apparently with some dialogue facilitated by the elected city officials they now understand this is overkill.

I know there are and always will be plenty of abuses of power. That doesn't make the concept of a police force (or government, military,etc) invalid. We crack down and prosecute, and hopefully reduce the number of such problems. There are countries with more disciplined officers, and we have a long way to go. That said, there are places with much, much, much more corrupt and brutal cops as well.

In the end the cops are there to protect us, and they serve at the pleasure of the government we elect. Making sure they behave themselves is up to us. And I for one am very optimistic about the next Tuscon ride, and hope that it goes off smoothly.