(no subject)
For those of you who don't know, I'm RABIDLY pro-cop.
My father is retired after 31 years working as a police officer in NYC. He worked in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the 70's and 80's when that place was S-C-A-R-Y. He was assaulted and injured twice by people being arrested. A friend he went through the academy with, James Romito, died on 9/11 (some people seem to think only firefighters lost their lives that day... but 60 police officers who ran into those buildings lost their lives too). My father had a stroke the week before and was in the hospital at the time. The officer that picked my me and my mom up and drove us to the hospital that day, Bruce Reynolds, also died there. That one still bothers me. Bruce was SO kind to us as he drove us in. He talked about how he had a heart attack a year before and how my dad would turn out to be fine, just like he did. I had never met him before, but he was an angel to us on a very scary day.
My brother is currently a police officer in my hometown. It's a quiet little village, but it's got its share of trouble. Luckily he's never been hurt on the job, and if he stays there, he probably never will. At least I hope not.
There are also 3 NYPD cops on Chris' side of the family. So when I say I'm pro-cop, I mean that I will fucking throw down and lose my shit if you try to talk bad about cops as a whole.
Why do I bring this up? Because I got my Irish up a few days ago when someone on LJ posted some shit about NYPD and Miami's PD having an issue with Beyonce's Super Bowl performance. The post itself annoyed me a little, but I was going to keep my mouth shut until someone commented "Ugh how are these police departments so fucking awful, seriously". When I took issue with it, and called her out (a bit colorfully, I'll admit.. I was pissed), she compared the risk of being a cop with the risk of being a garbage collector.
For serious??? Now you just sound dumb. And as they say, I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person. I mean, maybe the statistics there are true, but can we acknowledge for a second that cops are choosing a profession where they are trained to step into dangerous situations to protect lives? You know, like YOUR life and MINE. I couldn't do that job. And I am glad I don't have to.
I am incredibly proud of my family and their fellow brothers and sisters in blue.
So, let's talk serious....
Melvin Santiago
Rafael Ramos
Wenjian Liu
Did you forget THEM? These men were gunned down BECAUSE they were cops. They had done nothing wrong. They had simply put on their uniform that day, and they were targeted for it.
Santiago... his killer lured the police to his location, just so he could try to kill them. He told people he was going to be famous. And his wife? After it was over, she was angry that the police had the nerve to kill her husband during the shootout, and wished he had killed more cops before they got him. She actually said, "He should have took more with him. If they was going to stand over my husband and shoot him like a fucking dog, he should have took more with him. That's how I feel.
...
Sorry for the officer's family. That's you know. Whatever. But at the end of the day he got a family too. All they care about is the officer. All they care about is the officer."
I can't make this shit up, folks. Ain't she just a delight? A credit to society! *sigh* Zero accountability. She is a shining example of what's wrong with this country. Nobody wants to be held accountable for their own involvement in anything.
Ramos and Liu.... they were gunned down shortly after people were rioting in the streets chanting, "What do we want? Dead cops!" Those marchers have BLOOD on their hands. They fanned the flames and incited idiots to kill cops.
But sure.... people talk about Michael Brown. People talk about Eric Garner. Can we be honest and just admit that these were not innocent law abiding men, ok? These guys broke the law. Repeatedly. I totally believe that Michael Brown was high enough and cocky enough to try to wrestle a gun from a cop. I saw video of Brown roughing up the clerk at the convenience store. Don't try to tell me he was a sweet innocent teenager. He was a BIG guy and he probably felt like he couldn't be "bullied" by a cop. And Eric Garner COULD breathe. If you can SAY you can't breathe, you're breathing. You can't speak unless you can breathe. He was not choked to death. The man was overweight and had an extreme asthma attack. Yes, the hold used was not an authorized hold. And that officer should be held accountable for that action. But he did not actually choke Garner to death, people.
Are there bad cops? DEFINITELY! Of course there are. There are bad people in EVERY profession. Cops, teachers, doctors, etc. It happens. And those bad cops should be held accountable for their actions. The Walter Scott shooting... I just don't see any justification for that. But the officer HAS been charged in that shooting, so what more do you want? The system is working, and he'll most likely be convicted. He's not getting away with it. But he's an INDIVIDUAL. You can't condemn an entire profession over the actions of a few individuals.
Oh, and before I forget.... Beyoncé can suck my left fucking tit, ok? You wanna know why cops are pissed? Her video with the message to cops, "Stop shooting us." Seriously? How about stop pitting the entire world against all cops!? And people start taking ownership for their own actions?
I am just SOOOO sick of the war on cops. Do people REALLY believe that men and women are joining the police force in order to commit crimes and get away with it? If you really think that all cops join up so they can go shoot an innocent kid, you're delusional.
*whew* Ok, that's out. It's been festering for a couple of days, and if I didn't vent it, I was going to give myself high blood pressure. And it's a totally jumbled braindump, but I don't even care. And now that I've gotten that all out there, I will not be insulted (or surprised) if any of you drop me as a friend. I already dropped the author of the entry referenced here (and was dropped in return), so I'm good with it. I usually don't get involved in anything I consider "political" because people always disagree on issues and I like to keep my leanings to myself and express them on election day in the voting booth. But lately, issues concerning police officers have become increasingly political, and that is one topic that I won't be silent about.
So there.
My father is retired after 31 years working as a police officer in NYC. He worked in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the 70's and 80's when that place was S-C-A-R-Y. He was assaulted and injured twice by people being arrested. A friend he went through the academy with, James Romito, died on 9/11 (some people seem to think only firefighters lost their lives that day... but 60 police officers who ran into those buildings lost their lives too). My father had a stroke the week before and was in the hospital at the time. The officer that picked my me and my mom up and drove us to the hospital that day, Bruce Reynolds, also died there. That one still bothers me. Bruce was SO kind to us as he drove us in. He talked about how he had a heart attack a year before and how my dad would turn out to be fine, just like he did. I had never met him before, but he was an angel to us on a very scary day.
My brother is currently a police officer in my hometown. It's a quiet little village, but it's got its share of trouble. Luckily he's never been hurt on the job, and if he stays there, he probably never will. At least I hope not.
There are also 3 NYPD cops on Chris' side of the family. So when I say I'm pro-cop, I mean that I will fucking throw down and lose my shit if you try to talk bad about cops as a whole.
Why do I bring this up? Because I got my Irish up a few days ago when someone on LJ posted some shit about NYPD and Miami's PD having an issue with Beyonce's Super Bowl performance. The post itself annoyed me a little, but I was going to keep my mouth shut until someone commented "Ugh how are these police departments so fucking awful, seriously". When I took issue with it, and called her out (a bit colorfully, I'll admit.. I was pissed), she compared the risk of being a cop with the risk of being a garbage collector.
For serious??? Now you just sound dumb. And as they say, I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person. I mean, maybe the statistics there are true, but can we acknowledge for a second that cops are choosing a profession where they are trained to step into dangerous situations to protect lives? You know, like YOUR life and MINE. I couldn't do that job. And I am glad I don't have to.
I am incredibly proud of my family and their fellow brothers and sisters in blue.
So, let's talk serious....
Melvin Santiago
Rafael Ramos
Wenjian Liu
Did you forget THEM? These men were gunned down BECAUSE they were cops. They had done nothing wrong. They had simply put on their uniform that day, and they were targeted for it.
Santiago... his killer lured the police to his location, just so he could try to kill them. He told people he was going to be famous. And his wife? After it was over, she was angry that the police had the nerve to kill her husband during the shootout, and wished he had killed more cops before they got him. She actually said, "He should have took more with him. If they was going to stand over my husband and shoot him like a fucking dog, he should have took more with him. That's how I feel.
...
Sorry for the officer's family. That's you know. Whatever. But at the end of the day he got a family too. All they care about is the officer. All they care about is the officer."
I can't make this shit up, folks. Ain't she just a delight? A credit to society! *sigh* Zero accountability. She is a shining example of what's wrong with this country. Nobody wants to be held accountable for their own involvement in anything.
Ramos and Liu.... they were gunned down shortly after people were rioting in the streets chanting, "What do we want? Dead cops!" Those marchers have BLOOD on their hands. They fanned the flames and incited idiots to kill cops.
But sure.... people talk about Michael Brown. People talk about Eric Garner. Can we be honest and just admit that these were not innocent law abiding men, ok? These guys broke the law. Repeatedly. I totally believe that Michael Brown was high enough and cocky enough to try to wrestle a gun from a cop. I saw video of Brown roughing up the clerk at the convenience store. Don't try to tell me he was a sweet innocent teenager. He was a BIG guy and he probably felt like he couldn't be "bullied" by a cop. And Eric Garner COULD breathe. If you can SAY you can't breathe, you're breathing. You can't speak unless you can breathe. He was not choked to death. The man was overweight and had an extreme asthma attack. Yes, the hold used was not an authorized hold. And that officer should be held accountable for that action. But he did not actually choke Garner to death, people.
Are there bad cops? DEFINITELY! Of course there are. There are bad people in EVERY profession. Cops, teachers, doctors, etc. It happens. And those bad cops should be held accountable for their actions. The Walter Scott shooting... I just don't see any justification for that. But the officer HAS been charged in that shooting, so what more do you want? The system is working, and he'll most likely be convicted. He's not getting away with it. But he's an INDIVIDUAL. You can't condemn an entire profession over the actions of a few individuals.
Oh, and before I forget.... Beyoncé can suck my left fucking tit, ok? You wanna know why cops are pissed? Her video with the message to cops, "Stop shooting us." Seriously? How about stop pitting the entire world against all cops!? And people start taking ownership for their own actions?
I am just SOOOO sick of the war on cops. Do people REALLY believe that men and women are joining the police force in order to commit crimes and get away with it? If you really think that all cops join up so they can go shoot an innocent kid, you're delusional.
*whew* Ok, that's out. It's been festering for a couple of days, and if I didn't vent it, I was going to give myself high blood pressure. And it's a totally jumbled braindump, but I don't even care. And now that I've gotten that all out there, I will not be insulted (or surprised) if any of you drop me as a friend. I already dropped the author of the entry referenced here (and was dropped in return), so I'm good with it. I usually don't get involved in anything I consider "political" because people always disagree on issues and I like to keep my leanings to myself and express them on election day in the voting booth. But lately, issues concerning police officers have become increasingly political, and that is one topic that I won't be silent about.
So there.