On December 20, two NYPD Officers were fatally shot while sitting in their cruiser eating lunch. Investigators said the gunman did this in retaliation for the death of Eric Garner, and had written on his Instagram account: “I’m putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let’s take 2 of theirs,”. The post received 200 likes. By posting negative law enforcement propaganda, I helped create an environment of approval that made it “OK” for this deranged killer to execute these two officers. This was not my intent but the fact remains, some loony was looking for acceptance and he got it. What amounts to political and/or cultural opinion in my mind helped his delusional mind come to the conclusion that he should kill some cops. This is only part of the current hatred and violence against law and order. Politicians approve the “anti-cop” rhetoric. They submit their cities to demonstrators that riot and loot. Regardless of the whether the demonstrations erupted in violence or remained peaceful, that all had one common message – “The police are bad, racists who abuse their power.” We support, tweet, post and like media which uses terms like “unarmed man” and “victim” instead of suspect. They describe use of force against resisting arrest as “illegal choke holds” and “murder”. They call suspects “teenagers”, not 6’4, 300 pound convicted criminals and when you hear ”black subject” and “white cop” it’s all over. Its easy to armchair quarterback without understanding and respecting the nature of violent confrontation where anything can happen and there isn’t any control; there are only degrees of risk to both combatant suspects and the very people who have risked their lives to protect your community. Anytime you choose to resist or use force bad things can happen that result in injury or death. At the end of the day it’s about power and control. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do. We don’t like the idea that someone can inconvenience us and force us to explain our actions. We’re like a child who’s parents have told him NO. We plead our case and, if that doesn’t work, we stomp our feet and throw a fit. “Rights” do not empower us to do and say whatever we want. Rights do not empower us to ignore the law. Somehow, most Americans are aware of their rights without any attendant responsibilities. Like all societies we have laws. If you’re suspected of violating these laws you will be placed under arrest and taken before the court to plead your case. It’s not the job of the cop to pass judgment. His or her discretion only goes so far. It’s your responsibility as a citizen to play your part in the system: comply with the order and have your day in court. It’s not fun, its not always fair, it tedious and sometimes very expensive, but it’s the society in which we live.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 14:11:49 +0000
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