It has become very apparent that many of the police forces across these great United States are not subscribing to protect and serve. I believe that oath is the premise of the mission statement in the police academy. It seems like in recent years, policing has become something out of the old west where they shoot first and ask questions later based on intuition and not hard evidence. Now I understand that your six sense has to be sharp in order to do this job. I also understand that not every member of police organizations are power hungry or have an itchy trigger finger. What I do not understand is where the police organizations are getting these recruiters? Are they former military people who are trained for confrontation and battle? Are they people who were bullied all their lives and now have a chance to be the wise guy? Are they people who started out at amiable and level-headed who have been hardened by all the senselessness that they have been exposed to in their cities and towns be it as a citizen or in the line of duty? Could it be that since the pay rate for officers are so low in many cities that the police departments just take whoever they can get? Unfortunately, I do not have an answer because quite frankly it could be a combination of all of the above. However, the recruiting criteria needs to be tweaked because the psychology of these officers is going unchecked. Remember, the behavior of your officers is a reflection how the police organization views the city or town.
We as a society condemn the actions of the police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina who shot Walter Scott in the back. He was not just and as result the thin blue line did not shield him. Did they throw him under the bus because there was a video or because the head of that police organization did not want his hands soiled? Is this police chief one of the good guys who understands that you cannot just act without thinking out in the field? I believe this to be true. I am sure that are going to be using the video as part of their training in the future. Meanwhile a family grieves for a man who was not perfect by no stretch of the imagination but did not even get the courtesy that the justice system give death row inmates.
Francis Pusok, the man who stole a horse in southern California and was badly beaten by sheriff’s even after he willfully surrendered. The man did not have a weapon and did not resist arrest when they caught up with him. Makes me wonder did the sheriff’s beat him because they had to chase him or as a lesson that he should not have galloped off into the sunset. At least this man lives to tell his side of the story.
We have a checks and balances system for our government so that no one group gets too big for their britches, you know the one you learn about in grade school the executive branch, legislative branch and the judicial branch, when are going to have a system for police organizations? I know there is a group that comes out and investigates when police kill, wound, or use excessive force on citizens be they innocent or guilty of a crime. It is not working properly, they are reactive not proactive and we need a proactive approach in order to save lives and stop the unnecessary execution of children, teens, and adults you may or may not be squeaky clean but even the people who are found guilty who have been sentence to death have the opportunity to live (I believe death row inmates sit in confinement for on average at least fifteen to twenty years before the end) and reflect on their past transgression or appeal.
I am a concerned citizen not only for myself as I have not even had a traffic violation in almost twenty years but for my adults siblings, my adult children, and my friends who have sons and daughters who can be gunned down at a traffic stop, walking down a city street, or just in the wrong person’s house when something goes down because some officer needs to take out his aggression on someone who aside from the power of language is defenseless. It’s a shame that the good decorated police officers have to suffer for the actions of the bad ones but unfortunately when these unjust killings continue there are many victims. The ones that survive as well as the one who perishes. What can we do as citizens to make it better? I honestly do not feel safe calling a police officer my aid should the need arise. I do not want to be accidentally assassinated because the officer acted without thinking about the outcome. We are seeing more of these incidents in the news where someone calls for help and becomes the victim of the rescuer because the communication was not clear and an attempt by the police officer was not made to clearly access the situation.