Anyone else recall the normal progression of different police agencies at protests?

[NNN0LHI]

Whenever we used to have them it always started out with the city cops who everyone pretty much ignored. Hell, we knew most of them. They never had much equipment to handle protests. They brought little billy clubs and blackjacks that they just used to try and steer people around with. So after a while the city police would get tired and call in the county police, who by far were better equipped for this kind of thing. They came with actual full sized clubs with the extra handle coming off the side of it. Pretty painful to get one of those jammed into your ribs. But all in all the county was pretty ineffective too. But when county got tired they called in the state police things changed in a hurry. Now these guys came ready to rumble. Big huge guys. And they never brought any little billy clubs either. What they carried for this type of work looked more like a Louisville Slugger. A baseball bat type thing. Filled with lead.

We never felt like we had a successful protest until the state police were called. When we seen them pulling up we knew we hit a nerve.

Don

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. In Berkley, during Viet Nam, if you didn't get tear gassed you didn't do it right.

Ahhh, back in the day.

[virgogal]

2. NYPD sure as hell dosn't need state police.

[Fozzledick]

3. Another progression I've seen several times

First on the scene are the local precinct cops. Smiling and friendly, walking casually through the crowd in ones and twos and talking with people. At this point everything is calm and peaceful.

Next the traffic squad shows up. Unsmiling and aloof but courteously professional, organized in squads of 2 to 4. They know their job well and do it efficiently, keeping traffic moving around the crowd and access roads clear without provoking confrontations.

Then the TPF ("Tactical Police Force" aka "Tasmanian Pig Fever") suddenly appears, armed to the teeth and wearing body armor. They maneuver in large squads of 10 to 20 and immediately start pushing into the crowd and bullying people to try to provoke a reaction that will give them an excuse to use physical violence and make arrests.

[EFerrari]

4. When I went to protest Tricky Dick's second inaugural with Mom,

they shot their wad right away and there were helicopters above our heads at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. There weren't even that many people, maybe 1 or 2K.