Don’t get me wrong, there are bad officers that let the job go to their heads and some that should not be on the force, but I also feel that although they are a small minority, they receive the bulk of media attention.
Then too, of late it seems the media has gone out of their way to smear good Cops for acting properly, such as we saw in Ferguson, Missouri in recent months. It is the media that has joined in the fervor of anti-Police smears, often running erroneous claims and feeding those that claim to be “protesters.”
Most disturbing to me is seeing an increasing anti-Police rhetoric on Republican websites, or by those claiming to be Conservative that has wormed their way into the Republican Party.
Such was the case on a recent facebook post honoring newly elected Clark County Sheriff, Chuck Atkins on his taking the oath of office. Sad to see the comment “If only he cared enough about individual’s rights to defend us against overreaching government when the time comes.”
The commenter seems to believe that a Sheriff is a paramilitary position to ward off laws he personally disagrees with.
We saw a similar attitude a couple years ago during the “Occupy Wall Street” fiasco where those people were echoing that same sentiment, expecting the Police to ignore their oaths to uphold and enforce the law and side with them in permitting them to violate local ordinances and just do as they please.
Yet another post appeared on the Washington State Republicans facebook page asking the question, “Are most cops good? Don’t answer that till you read this.” with a link to a blog by an alleged “dynamic no nonsense liberty speaker.”
That post proclaims;
To be a good cop you MUST PASS ALL 3 of these tests.
Treat your employers (the people) with respect.
Honor your oath and protect the peoples rights.
Be principled & oppose those that violate liberty & their oath.
Also claimed is;
“You’re not a good cop because you don’t violate my rights. You’re a bad cop if you don’t protect them with your life! That’s the only measure that counts and if you can’t handle that, I don’t hate you. You just need to find a new job.”Perhaps the blogger does not realize that officers are not hired and trained to do his bidding, but to uphold the laws passed by a majority of the people and elected officials. While they do work for the public, the public is a very diverse group and they are not hired to support only one group above all others.
In my mind, a Police Force that caters to just one group of the “the people” would result in the very Police State they frequently claim to be coming.
Also troubling is seeing an increasing call to not cooperate with Police. Be it at DUI checkpoints (illegal in our state) or immigration checkpoints inside our borders to give us a secondary point to stop illegal aliens sneaking into the country, more and more we see videos instructing others on how to not be cooperative, comparing Police asking for identification to Nazi Gestapo asking to see “your papers.”
For states where DUI checkpoints are legally being used, have you forgotten that you demanded Police do more to catch drunk drivers before they cause wrecks and kill innocent people?
We see also cries of Police are little more than revenue agents for cities, fabricating reasons for tickets and arrests. While this has happened and some people have been wrongfully charged convicted, those that are caught abusing their authority have also been known to end up in deeper trouble than the ones they accused.
I previously covered the so-called “Police Militarization” earlier on. I find it ironic that those crying about the Police receiving surplus weapons feel that they have every right to them under the second amendment.
Officers are human and no amount of training can prepare them every instance they face. As we have seen in the last few months, Police Officers around the country are being ambushed resulting in deaths of likely good officers.
We’re hearing cries of “What do we want? Dead Cops. When do we want it? Now!”
Would you like to go to your job every day with such calls hanging over your head, knowing you are targeted with no regard for how well you do your job, just that you wear a uniform?
This is not a case of Cops, right or wrong. Our media spares no ink in running headlines for incidents by a Bad Cop, but buries the everyday good performed by many officers, if they publish them at all.
It is not Liberty to call for Police to be opposed and demands laid on them to defend only you. That is closer to anarchy.
And no, none of us like being stopped by the Police. But, what many fail to realize is that Officer stopping you might just have saved your life if you were speeding or driving recklessly. In the case of a drunk or buzzed driver, the stop likely saved his life and the lives of others, children especially.
The people I know that have become Police did not do so to enjoy some power trip. They did so in order to protect society as a whole, not just one small group.
And yes, I get that the Police are not very popular, mostly by those that feel they do not need to follow or adhere to society’s laws, that somehow they are elite and above the mundane tasks of abiding by the laws written and passed by society.
Likewise bad Cops need weeded out and from where I sit, no one is more wanting of them being weeded out that the rest of the Police doing their jobs every day and catching the flak.
Without the Police, society would quickly devolve into a lawless anarchy where anything goes, rape, murder, robbery, you name it.
And who would you call then?
Not unless they decided to form their own version of an Armed Police Force to enforce what they decide should be enforced.
It is time that this nonsense stopped. Officers are our neighbors and just as human as we are. They are not supermen.
They deserve our respect and yes, cooperation.
Maybe, just maybe if more people showed a little respect and cooperation, an Officer would not feel the need to keep his hand on his service weapon while talking to us if we are pulled over.
We are all in this together, don’t ever forget that.
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