I have to admit I have mixed feelings in regard to recent events regarding law enforcement viz-a-viz the minority community. I have/had family who have been in law enforcement--a paternal grandfather who was with the old Town of Islip Police then was with the New York State Police (and who sadly died in the line of duty six years before I was born) and an uncle who was with the Nassau County Police Department. Are there some bad apples in every law enforcement agency who ruin it for the rest? Yes. Are there acts of brutality committed by these bad apples? Yes. Those who commit brutality need to be held accountable for their actions. On the other hand, the gunning down last week of two NYPD officers was beyond the pale. Protests and even riots are one thing, gunning down two officers who for the most part sound like they were fine upstanding officers is a whole different ball game. Once again, there are some bad apples within each protest who want to start riots and even gun down officers and they are making things bad for those who just want to peacefully protest. This is indeed a complex issue that doesnt have simple solutions. Would body cameras and retraining prevent a recurrence of whats happened? Maybe to a certain extent. Should better efforts be made to curb rioting and provide better protection to our officers? Yes. Both sides are going to have to make some concessions in order for peace to be restored. I think Ill let the immortal Jack Webb summarize how I feel about this situation in this speech he gave in an episode of the 1960s version of Dragnet (this episode features a pre-Adam-12 appearance by Kent McCord). I wish for peace for both sides in this situation. :-( https://youtube/watch?v=J3hiR9H7amo
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 21:47:21 +0000