Smoking Gun
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So where I live there have recently been a lot of serious shootings, I mean on a daily basis. This is absolute craziness, I am not sure what is going on. I would love to see this horrible rash of violence come to a swift end as no one is safe from it, especially innocent bystanders. There also seems to be a lot of attacks directly on cops lately. What I have to say next may seem insensitive, but seriously, I have no sympathy for the cops.
I know there are plenty of cops who are generally good people, or at least not bad people, and are just doing their job, it is the bad apples among them who give them a bad name. But at the same time, given the double standard in favor of cops I really do not feel bad for these cops who have been in the line of fire. While it is the bad apples who give the cops a bad rap, there are seemingly no cops willing to stop their fellow officers, and apathy is really every bit as bad. I do feel bad for the families of injured and fallen officers, but not the officers themselves.
It is very much this accepted double standard that really gets under my skin, and seemingly is causing this rash of violence against cops. For me it is even the little things that really have gotten me heated; cops changing lanes without signaling, driving while on their cell phones, harassment of general public, and just a general feeling of superiority they have. What really makes it worse, is that not only is it some of the cops, it is generally institutionalized within the law enforcement community. It is such a fraternity that anyone who does not fall exactly in line, like a mindless drone, becomes ostracized, passed over for promotions and generally has a tough time doing their job. So it really comes down to either fall in line and think you are above the law or find another line of work.
My opinion of the situation is that the general public is sick and tired of paying a bunch of bullies to be bullies. As tax paying citizens the police departments are supposed to be servants of the community, protect the citizens, and uphold the law. Yet the opposite seems to be the case, the cops bully the general public and people are quite sick of it. There are plenty of average, totally law abiding citizens who are absolutely disenchanted with the police and have more fear of them than trust in them. This is not how things are supposed to be.
I have often thought of how to thwart such an institution of corruption and apathy. My first reaction is that any penalty a civilian faces is automatically doubled for any police officer breaking the law. The officer should also immediately be fired and lose all retirement pension and benefits. (I have always felt it is the second part of my idea to be the more effective part. Police officers usually retire with a nice pension, and it is offered much sooner than just about any profession. It also effects their families more than legal penalties; and that is where it really hurts them.) Since it is a police officers job to uphold the law, and they are often given rights and power above and beyond the general public, they need to be held to a much higher standard. If they break the law it really is not only the infraction of the law but the betrayal of trust among the public that makes their actions so heinous. But it still come down to enforcement of these rules, and that is where the real problems arise.
I think we are now seeing the frustration and anger boil over, violently at that. I do not condone violence upon anyone, but I almost see the justification for violence against police. As I stated before I have no sympathy for them either. I also would like to see the end of police officers being touted as hero's in the media. Ok so they took a bullet in the line of duty, well for one that is the job they signed up for, they assumed the risks of the job when they joined the force. Secondly who is to say they didn't have that coming. Were they a person who's karma isn't just coming back to bite them in the ass as karma always does? I tend to think so. People who always seem to have trouble find them are usually people who continually put themselves in situations where trouble is likely to find them. Yes cops are more often in situations where trouble is likely to find them, but there are plenty of cops who have never been shot, or even shot at. So in some round about way I am almost glad to see cops getting what is coming to them.
Before I start getting everyone coming back and saying that I am picking on all cops, not all cops are bad people, I have first hand knowledge that the truly upstanding cops are the exception. I have friends (I am not talking about acquaintances I see once in a while, but true friends that I went on vacation with) that are cops, and know friends who have siblings that are police officers and the stories I have heard only reinforce my position. The cops who sign up for all the right reasons and keep their integrity often end up hating the job they do.
I sincerely apologize for this diatribe, but it was something I really needed to get off my chest. So if you actually read this whole post, thanks, if you skimmed through it I totally understand. With all that said, I wish you all some sanity and a whole lot of safety.
I know there are plenty of cops who are generally good people, or at least not bad people, and are just doing their job, it is the bad apples among them who give them a bad name. But at the same time, given the double standard in favor of cops I really do not feel bad for these cops who have been in the line of fire. While it is the bad apples who give the cops a bad rap, there are seemingly no cops willing to stop their fellow officers, and apathy is really every bit as bad. I do feel bad for the families of injured and fallen officers, but not the officers themselves.
It is very much this accepted double standard that really gets under my skin, and seemingly is causing this rash of violence against cops. For me it is even the little things that really have gotten me heated; cops changing lanes without signaling, driving while on their cell phones, harassment of general public, and just a general feeling of superiority they have. What really makes it worse, is that not only is it some of the cops, it is generally institutionalized within the law enforcement community. It is such a fraternity that anyone who does not fall exactly in line, like a mindless drone, becomes ostracized, passed over for promotions and generally has a tough time doing their job. So it really comes down to either fall in line and think you are above the law or find another line of work.
My opinion of the situation is that the general public is sick and tired of paying a bunch of bullies to be bullies. As tax paying citizens the police departments are supposed to be servants of the community, protect the citizens, and uphold the law. Yet the opposite seems to be the case, the cops bully the general public and people are quite sick of it. There are plenty of average, totally law abiding citizens who are absolutely disenchanted with the police and have more fear of them than trust in them. This is not how things are supposed to be.
I have often thought of how to thwart such an institution of corruption and apathy. My first reaction is that any penalty a civilian faces is automatically doubled for any police officer breaking the law. The officer should also immediately be fired and lose all retirement pension and benefits. (I have always felt it is the second part of my idea to be the more effective part. Police officers usually retire with a nice pension, and it is offered much sooner than just about any profession. It also effects their families more than legal penalties; and that is where it really hurts them.) Since it is a police officers job to uphold the law, and they are often given rights and power above and beyond the general public, they need to be held to a much higher standard. If they break the law it really is not only the infraction of the law but the betrayal of trust among the public that makes their actions so heinous. But it still come down to enforcement of these rules, and that is where the real problems arise.
I think we are now seeing the frustration and anger boil over, violently at that. I do not condone violence upon anyone, but I almost see the justification for violence against police. As I stated before I have no sympathy for them either. I also would like to see the end of police officers being touted as hero's in the media. Ok so they took a bullet in the line of duty, well for one that is the job they signed up for, they assumed the risks of the job when they joined the force. Secondly who is to say they didn't have that coming. Were they a person who's karma isn't just coming back to bite them in the ass as karma always does? I tend to think so. People who always seem to have trouble find them are usually people who continually put themselves in situations where trouble is likely to find them. Yes cops are more often in situations where trouble is likely to find them, but there are plenty of cops who have never been shot, or even shot at. So in some round about way I am almost glad to see cops getting what is coming to them.
Before I start getting everyone coming back and saying that I am picking on all cops, not all cops are bad people, I have first hand knowledge that the truly upstanding cops are the exception. I have friends (I am not talking about acquaintances I see once in a while, but true friends that I went on vacation with) that are cops, and know friends who have siblings that are police officers and the stories I have heard only reinforce my position. The cops who sign up for all the right reasons and keep their integrity often end up hating the job they do.
I sincerely apologize for this diatribe, but it was something I really needed to get off my chest. So if you actually read this whole post, thanks, if you skimmed through it I totally understand. With all that said, I wish you all some sanity and a whole lot of safety.
