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Do We Need a Police State?

I’ve been following various reports from the G8/G20 meeting in Toronto.  At the moment, there are swarms of police and private security all over Toronto to provide security for the summit.  Rumor has it the budget for the meeting is about $1 Billion (US? CAN?).

Honestly, with a billion dollars, I could BUY a big chunk of land, set up a secure facility, and never once need to mess with people on city streets.  Heck, if I’m careful, I could probably have a runway on that land and a nice place for the protesters to encamp.  When it’s all said an done, I could probably feed the protesters and still have a few bucks left over.

As part of the security measures, people are now required by law there to show their ID to any police officer who requests it.  No reason is needed.  People have been held for refusing.  People have been arrested for filming the area.  Today, it was announced that there are also random searches of innocent people and people are required to keep a certain distance from all the security fences.

So here is my question for all of you: Here in the US, should people be required to present proof of their identification to any law enforcement officer who asks?

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