>With their traditional mission of defending custom and seeking equity, police were unwilling to abridge pedestrians’ rights to the free use of city streets. H

>With their traditional mission of defending custom and seeking equity, police were unwilling to abridge pedestrians’ rights to the free use of city streets. How times have changed. In regards to police/government respecting citizen's rights. I've always wondered what a person from the past, say pre-WWI era would think if they were to time travel to the present. They would probably think we live in an authoritarian police state. They'd probably be right.