Tuesday Tidbit from Asst. Chief Magdich... Its tidbit time readers and I want to address an issue that has sparked concern over race lines, but has also caused a divide in the Law Enforcement Community and that is the recent tragic event in Ferguson, MO last month. I say tragedy, because no matter what the details of the incident are, one life is lost before it has begun and another has forever irreversibly changed, regardless of whether or not his actions were justified. I don’t think any of us at this point can come to an informed conclusion regarding this incident, based on the information that is available. We can come to a conclusion, and many have, but not an informed one, because one explanation is being pushed hard by the national media, but little has been done to illuminate the other side. Now, regardless of whether or not this officer’s actions were justified, I don’t see how he can possibly get a fair trial. Finding an impartial jury of his own peers anywhere in the country will be difficult at best. In the event that once all the information becomes available and greater legal minds than mine determine that his actions were justified, he will be subjected to an investigation and likely prosecution for a civil rights violation. That is the reality nearly every officer that wears a gun and a badge must face every day they pin on one and strap on the other. That is aside from each officer’s concern over getting through their shift intact. One thing that we are taught in the academy is that every situation we are involved in has a gun present. It does, because we bring it to every situation we are summoned to. We often do not know who we are dealing with, what their history is and, more importantly, what their intentions are. Further, for those that do not know, our holsters have security features to make it difficult for the bad guy to wrestle the gun away from us. That is because before those measures were put in place officers were frequently shot with their own sidearm that had been wrestled away from them. These safety features also make it difficult for us to remove the gun when needed and requires daily practice so that in a stressful situation our bodies just do what they have been trained to do through mindless repetition. That is also the reason that when we purchase soft body armor for our officers, we have to make sure that it can defeat the particular round of ammunition that is issued for the particular firearm that we may be carrying. I remember very clearly learning, while in the academy, about an officer that was killed at a traffic stop by being shot with his own gun. The, then unbiased media, reported that the officer’s holster was literally torn apart, giving you a mental glimpse into the frantic struggle and violence that particular officer faced before his murder. Would you be surprised to learn that there have been more than 200 officer involved shootings (OIS) in the United States this year? I was. Nationally, we are only hearing about one. 70 police officers have been killed in the line of duty to date in 2014. Around 90 of those occurred OIS’s in the month of August alone. A few involved off duty officers, either being in the right place at the right time or having to defend themselves in the midst of being victimized for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How many of those have you seen praised by the national news? How many of those assailants have been investigated or arrested for a civil rights violation? The negative comments, about police in general, are grossly disproportionate to the good that they accomplish every day in every community in this country. We live in a gun society, yet the police are criticized for militarizing. We are just trying to keep up with the capabilities of the adversaries we face. Here in Oregon, we are fortunate because, for the most part, we have the support of the citizenry. We also have a good relationship with the media. That could change forever with any officer’s action they may have a nanosecond to process before carrying out. I’ve said it before, but Police Officers are human too and occasionally we make mistakes. No officers wake up in the morning with the hope that they will be the topic of the national evening news, but we don’t get to pick and choose on that. Don’t judge all of us by the actions of one or a few and judge each situation on its facts. If you don’t have the facts, don’t judge. It’s the same courtesy each of you would want extended to you. Have a great week!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:23:13 +0000
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