For public consumption
Heads up. This is probably a shocker, but I have opinions. The "news" has been filled with conflicts that have drawn a great deal of ... discussion... about the police, and our world.
Everyone wants to boil things down to a simple soundbite. Sorry. Won't work. Sounds good, but won't work. Humans are complex creatures and the reality is, we are all different. The thing is, many of us can't understand the viewpoint of someone else who has a vastly different frame of reference. Who in Detroit can really grok what it's like to live in Kenya? Who in France can truly understand growing up in Siberia? And that's people who want to.. many don't really care enough to attempt it, being wrapped up in their own self image or importance.
Indicting a police officer for a criminal act is very challenging, but it creates great drama points so the entertainment sector.. also called "news".. does a great job of playing up inflaming language and specific points of conflict. It kinda always has been that way. Read newspapers from the 20's.. 30's.. 1800's.. or rags from earlier... Journalistic Ethics only go so far when it comes to the bottom line of selling subscriptions (or these days; getting hits.) Yes, I know there are some journalists out there who write ethically. They're also not on TV, anchoring shows, or writing front-page stuff for the high-hit "news" sources, and that's why. Drama sells. It's why we still have "the Bachelor ..version 29."
Geraldo Rivera and Jerry Springer pioneered the genre, and it's grown into $$.
With that said, the issue is huge. Racism is an issue throughout the world. It just is. However, it's not as simple a matter as "the cops are the badguys." Some Cops (I know at least one).. is. Arrogant, deceitful, narcissistic and the epitome of what is WRONG with law Enforcement. When men like him are automatically presumed during a trial to be truthful, the whole concept of testifying honestly goes right out the window, and lawyers are very good at putting that card over the eyes of gullible jurors. They're PAID to do it, just like that particular individual was paid and trained to perfect those skills. Yet, I also know many other LEOs that are the exact opposite. They are far more honest and earnest than many people I have met. They set the standard.
Yet, here's the rub: it only takes one to ruin the appearance of all.
Again, it STILL isn't that simple. Think about this for a moment. LEOs are men and women who are required to put their lives on the line, day in and day out, and deal with people who are probably having a very bad day. Anyone could decide to shoot them, stab them, attack them, and they are going to be dealing with many people in a very heightened state of emotion. Look at Michael Brown's stepfather... "Burn this Bitch DOWN!!" he screamed. If someone had handed him a torch..would he have led the charge? It would only have taken one small spark for that emotion to have been turned into a bad decision. I'm willing to bet it's 50/50 that he would have. So when you deal with a person in a heightened state.. you have to expect that they will NOT behave rationally..
The screaming from Eric Garner about "I can't breathe..."? Happens all the time. Folks, watch Soccer. You think that kind of flop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m8nXLr3u4) doesn't happen all the time when someone is arrested? Once a situation turns physical, the cop is now in a potentially mortal situation. He does NOT know what the other guy is going to do, and he is trained to subdue as quickly as possible. The criminal.. a bona-fide, honest-to-goodness badguy is going to play exactly the same kind of card to get an advantage in that situation. The cops can't give an inch until the individual is secured. A cop is there to protect you, the law abiding citizen. When a "professional" engagement happens with a cop, you have two choices, keep calm or react emotionally. Granted, in the case of Sean Groubert, even a calm reaction ended badly, due to the officer's bad judgement. (He was actually charged for aggravated assault in that instance) But calm and patient reactions to the officer are "more likely" to go peacefully. When the civilian interjects emotion into the encounter, the officer now has to watch for escalation.
Again, it STILL isn't that simple.
What is the average salary of a police officer? What is the average salary of an army infantryman? The truth is, they are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. They are there to look for badguys and they don't know who they are. Think of the American GI in a rice paddy in north Vietnam, or downtown Baghdad. There is someone out there wanting to put a bullet in your head, and it could be ANYONE. In the case of a cop.. it's the same. Sure, it's not COMMON, but for a cop, it's a helluvalot more common than you know. It only takes one Eric Frein. So here you have people expected to uphold the law, protect citizens and respond to crises by putting their safety at risk.. and they're barely paid or equipped to handle that expectation. Let's be honest folks.. in America, "preparedness" is not financed. The only thing that gets $$ is the thing that can be sold for more $$ or a service that can be monetized. Backup sites for computer systems, savings accounts, and public services are financed *after* all the other stuff. The budget line for police is pitiful compared to what is being asked of them. (So is the line for the military.. and their expenses aren't going to the right place either."
Even more ..that STILL isn't all the factors.
There are expectations. What people expect of the police is rediculous. What the government expects of the police is rediculous. The bill of sale that our legislature is trying to get us to believe is also rediculous. I believe in concealed carry because I do not trust the police to be there when the badguy wants to shoot my love, my daughter or endanger my family. They can't be. I bear some responsibility there. The police are there to enforce the laws, and capture the criminal. They cannot protect you except in VERY SPECIFIC moments. They engage *after* the crime. They can't.. and shouldn't.. engage before.
However, there is also this thing called judgement. Heck, two people can't go out to dinner without the probability that they're each having differing expectations of the evening. The police sees a situation and responds based on his/her EXPERIENCE in a similar moment. *MY* experiences of two people in armor hitting each other with sticks is tells me this is a harmless situation. If two knights went at it on a downtown street, I would expect (rightly) that the police would be engaging that moment as if it were a potentially dangerous situation. They have to use their judgement.
Sometimes, they are wrong. Sometimes, they are prejudiced. Sometimes what YOU see as prejudice, is actually *experience.* Sometimes, it's worse, sometimes, it IS racism. But, it's also not "Ethnic Cleansing" either. That's KKK stuff. Cops are not the KKK. They're also not the Black Panthers. There may be SOME that are..and those that are should be removed from the force. There is no place for racism. Or really any other "ism," except maybe "accept-ism." Police need to be blind to color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, etc.. etc.
But they're not. They're people. So they're trained to do the best they can. Sometimes, they fail. Sometimes the training fails. Sometimes, they go out of their way to help rather than "enforce." By the way, THESE moments don't get the traction they should because they don't sell hits on a website like conflict does.
Sometimes.. they go to work and die.
What are the expectations? What is fair? What is reasonable?
Personally, my expectation is that we, as people, *think.* It's not simple. The fix is not simple, and won't be summed up by "fuck the police" or "Shoot the criminals." The fix is really in our hearts. Yours. Mine. His. Hers. SHers. Until we all are able to be able to be trusted and trustworthy... there will always be conflict. And if there's going to be conflict, there will need to be a way for order to be kept.
Socialism is great.. as long as everyone is a socialist. Anarchy is great, until you run into someone else who is bigger, stronger or can shoot faster and straighter than you can. Probably the only hope mankind truly has, is to find a way to live only with people who share our own values.
I fear that will happen .. by a forced de-population of the planet. I hope not. My *wish* would be for us to find a way to jump to the stars and find enough room for us to make that happen.
I feel that the key *is* manifesting that "best" that is within us.
But it's just not simple, and we can't make it BE simple.
Everyone wants to boil things down to a simple soundbite. Sorry. Won't work. Sounds good, but won't work. Humans are complex creatures and the reality is, we are all different. The thing is, many of us can't understand the viewpoint of someone else who has a vastly different frame of reference. Who in Detroit can really grok what it's like to live in Kenya? Who in France can truly understand growing up in Siberia? And that's people who want to.. many don't really care enough to attempt it, being wrapped up in their own self image or importance.
Indicting a police officer for a criminal act is very challenging, but it creates great drama points so the entertainment sector.. also called "news".. does a great job of playing up inflaming language and specific points of conflict. It kinda always has been that way. Read newspapers from the 20's.. 30's.. 1800's.. or rags from earlier... Journalistic Ethics only go so far when it comes to the bottom line of selling subscriptions (or these days; getting hits.) Yes, I know there are some journalists out there who write ethically. They're also not on TV, anchoring shows, or writing front-page stuff for the high-hit "news" sources, and that's why. Drama sells. It's why we still have "the Bachelor ..version 29."
Geraldo Rivera and Jerry Springer pioneered the genre, and it's grown into $$.
With that said, the issue is huge. Racism is an issue throughout the world. It just is. However, it's not as simple a matter as "the cops are the badguys." Some Cops (I know at least one).. is. Arrogant, deceitful, narcissistic and the epitome of what is WRONG with law Enforcement. When men like him are automatically presumed during a trial to be truthful, the whole concept of testifying honestly goes right out the window, and lawyers are very good at putting that card over the eyes of gullible jurors. They're PAID to do it, just like that particular individual was paid and trained to perfect those skills. Yet, I also know many other LEOs that are the exact opposite. They are far more honest and earnest than many people I have met. They set the standard.
Yet, here's the rub: it only takes one to ruin the appearance of all.
Again, it STILL isn't that simple. Think about this for a moment. LEOs are men and women who are required to put their lives on the line, day in and day out, and deal with people who are probably having a very bad day. Anyone could decide to shoot them, stab them, attack them, and they are going to be dealing with many people in a very heightened state of emotion. Look at Michael Brown's stepfather... "Burn this Bitch DOWN!!" he screamed. If someone had handed him a torch..would he have led the charge? It would only have taken one small spark for that emotion to have been turned into a bad decision. I'm willing to bet it's 50/50 that he would have. So when you deal with a person in a heightened state.. you have to expect that they will NOT behave rationally..
The screaming from Eric Garner about "I can't breathe..."? Happens all the time. Folks, watch Soccer. You think that kind of flop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m8nXLr3u4) doesn't happen all the time when someone is arrested? Once a situation turns physical, the cop is now in a potentially mortal situation. He does NOT know what the other guy is going to do, and he is trained to subdue as quickly as possible. The criminal.. a bona-fide, honest-to-goodness badguy is going to play exactly the same kind of card to get an advantage in that situation. The cops can't give an inch until the individual is secured. A cop is there to protect you, the law abiding citizen. When a "professional" engagement happens with a cop, you have two choices, keep calm or react emotionally. Granted, in the case of Sean Groubert, even a calm reaction ended badly, due to the officer's bad judgement. (He was actually charged for aggravated assault in that instance) But calm and patient reactions to the officer are "more likely" to go peacefully. When the civilian interjects emotion into the encounter, the officer now has to watch for escalation.
Again, it STILL isn't that simple.
What is the average salary of a police officer? What is the average salary of an army infantryman? The truth is, they are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. They are there to look for badguys and they don't know who they are. Think of the American GI in a rice paddy in north Vietnam, or downtown Baghdad. There is someone out there wanting to put a bullet in your head, and it could be ANYONE. In the case of a cop.. it's the same. Sure, it's not COMMON, but for a cop, it's a helluvalot more common than you know. It only takes one Eric Frein. So here you have people expected to uphold the law, protect citizens and respond to crises by putting their safety at risk.. and they're barely paid or equipped to handle that expectation. Let's be honest folks.. in America, "preparedness" is not financed. The only thing that gets $$ is the thing that can be sold for more $$ or a service that can be monetized. Backup sites for computer systems, savings accounts, and public services are financed *after* all the other stuff. The budget line for police is pitiful compared to what is being asked of them. (So is the line for the military.. and their expenses aren't going to the right place either."
Even more ..that STILL isn't all the factors.
There are expectations. What people expect of the police is rediculous. What the government expects of the police is rediculous. The bill of sale that our legislature is trying to get us to believe is also rediculous. I believe in concealed carry because I do not trust the police to be there when the badguy wants to shoot my love, my daughter or endanger my family. They can't be. I bear some responsibility there. The police are there to enforce the laws, and capture the criminal. They cannot protect you except in VERY SPECIFIC moments. They engage *after* the crime. They can't.. and shouldn't.. engage before.
However, there is also this thing called judgement. Heck, two people can't go out to dinner without the probability that they're each having differing expectations of the evening. The police sees a situation and responds based on his/her EXPERIENCE in a similar moment. *MY* experiences of two people in armor hitting each other with sticks is tells me this is a harmless situation. If two knights went at it on a downtown street, I would expect (rightly) that the police would be engaging that moment as if it were a potentially dangerous situation. They have to use their judgement.
Sometimes, they are wrong. Sometimes, they are prejudiced. Sometimes what YOU see as prejudice, is actually *experience.* Sometimes, it's worse, sometimes, it IS racism. But, it's also not "Ethnic Cleansing" either. That's KKK stuff. Cops are not the KKK. They're also not the Black Panthers. There may be SOME that are..and those that are should be removed from the force. There is no place for racism. Or really any other "ism," except maybe "accept-ism." Police need to be blind to color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, etc.. etc.
But they're not. They're people. So they're trained to do the best they can. Sometimes, they fail. Sometimes the training fails. Sometimes, they go out of their way to help rather than "enforce." By the way, THESE moments don't get the traction they should because they don't sell hits on a website like conflict does.
Sometimes.. they go to work and die.
What are the expectations? What is fair? What is reasonable?
Personally, my expectation is that we, as people, *think.* It's not simple. The fix is not simple, and won't be summed up by "fuck the police" or "Shoot the criminals." The fix is really in our hearts. Yours. Mine. His. Hers. SHers. Until we all are able to be able to be trusted and trustworthy... there will always be conflict. And if there's going to be conflict, there will need to be a way for order to be kept.
Socialism is great.. as long as everyone is a socialist. Anarchy is great, until you run into someone else who is bigger, stronger or can shoot faster and straighter than you can. Probably the only hope mankind truly has, is to find a way to live only with people who share our own values.
I fear that will happen .. by a forced de-population of the planet. I hope not. My *wish* would be for us to find a way to jump to the stars and find enough room for us to make that happen.
I feel that the key *is* manifesting that "best" that is within us.
But it's just not simple, and we can't make it BE simple.