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New
police recruits… are they the “best” people to protect and serve us?
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OPINION piece:
Cops
have the gun, the law, and the court system behind them, so I don’t feel sorry
for police who say they feel maligned, demoralized, and can’t find good recruits
because citizens don’t like them.
I
"LIKE THEM" just fine. It’s their actions against defenseless people that I don’t
like which are now being recorded with cell phones and body cameras. “Perceptions are
reality,” but data and videos don’t lie. Citizens are watching,
and it all began with Rodney King.
2018
is not like 1946, when George W. and Mae Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy
Malcom were lynched in Moore’s Ford, Ga., and a witness said a police car was on
the scene. Mrs. Dorsey’s seven-month old fetus was cut out of her belly that
day, for God’s sake, but nobody was brought to justice, and the investigation
was dropped earlier this year. No one was even charged in their murders.
Today,
we have “hero” cop shows, Coffee with Cops programs, Adopt a Cop, collaborative
community meetings, police discussion groups and police review boards. When the local police chief
says he must work 24/7 to protect us and we’re just sitting back throwing
stones, that’s a misconception.
The
traffic stop is the first step in being treated inhumanly - facing
abuse, death, loss of freedom, legal fees, lost employment, destruction of the family, homosexuality, and/or time behind bars.
Cops,
like citizens, are human and can err, but they always have the upper hand
because of their “military” status and their ability to kill and not be reprimanded
unless a judge rules otherwise. They can monitor themselves and investigate all
day long, but they will probably always get a bad rap. The power they weld is huge,
but the pen and the cell phone camera can level the playing field.
Our
safety and security are at stake. If we don’t know how to talk to one another,
to have lunch with or stroll down the street together, to have respect for one
another, to not be fearful of being stunned or incarcerated; of being tased,
lynched, or suffocated, or arrested on trumped up charges, then we are really
living in a police state where jail/prison time is profitable. Where the New
Jim Crow has created a slave system turned prison factory. Where inmates are
paid pennies an hour and make blankets and other merchandise, not just license
plates.
This
is the “LAW” state that we live in. And it’s getting worse.
Body
cameras may soon be eliminated because corporations making them are going out
of business and the local government’s deficits may not fund them.
And
what about cops who are selling drugs and guns out of the back of their cruisers?
Is that why so many cop cars are getting broken into, because petty thieves
know what’s inside and see a payday?
One
solution is to read The Art of War and Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life. Then,
let’s continue our discussion.
W. says: Great article Tomi! Here are a few more ideas to consider, in terms of the police and the communities they serve... the experimental shift toward "community policing," began almost 40-years ago. It would seem more than enough time has passed to have made much more progress than where things currently stand. However, just as sociological change is painfully slow, changing the culture of law enforcement agencies remains even slower. Worse still, when the courts continue to uphold "legal executions" of our young men, it becomes easier to invalidate the need for BLM and other social justice organizations. They (society at large) still do not understand the source of our anger and frustration.
ReplyDeleteHey, I hope you all had a blessed holiday weekend!
A says: That is the government so lots of red tape and close minded and old ideas
ReplyDeleteJ says: I like the article, but it sounded like you were calling them liars. In defense of Register, he's at least making an attempt whether it's his own idea or direction set by his superiors to have a dialogue. You know how sensitive these people are. If want to build some trust and have inroad to other things in community, you should at least have some balance in the article. You may get shut out because of how they perceive your comments.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is my take...yours is yours. Thanks for sharing. I'm open to anything that will make us productive in bringing some real power to citizens and less injustice. Misconception means a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding. It doesn't necessarily mean one is lying.
DeleteE says: Well written article. Having a son who was a policeman, I see different descriptions of your policeman than I do of ours. I know it is different in the larger areas and in the south than here. But I know how I worried every time my son put on the uniform and went to work and wondered whether he would return home. I remember the threating phone calls he would get and the shouting over the phone, "I'm going to kill you. I know where you
ReplyDeletelive." I remember how thrilled I was when he said he was going to retire. I know there are corrupt police, but there are many more that put their live on the line every day to protect us. Think what it would be like if we did not have people who were willing to do this. The corrupt ones we need to eliminate, but don't forget to thank the ones who lay their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.