Is it still to Serve and Protect?

This is something that I feel I must discuss because it has become a serious problem. It is controversial so I understand that there will be mixed feelings regarding this articles topic. I also want to make it clear that what this article says isn’t directed towards every law enforcement officer, so if someone in your life is one, this isn’t against them.

It has been increasingly brought to my attention that some law enforcement officers are abusing their power and giving the badge a bad name. In fact, for me at least, it’s gotten to the point where if I was in serious danger I would rather face that problem on my own than talk to a police officer. I wouldn’t know who the lesser of two evils was, the problem I was facing or the possibly corrupt officer I would get stuck talking to. Now I know I’m not alone when I say this, police officers are supposed to bring a sense of comfort and peace to the upstanding citizens not a sense of dread and fear. Yet 90% of the time that I come into contact with a law enforcement officer I feel the fear not the sense of safety. There is something seriously wrong with that picture.

This is a fear that has been warranted;, let me give you just a few explanations. It seems that nowadays its first instinct is to shoot first answer questions later. I don’t know what the reason for this is as it wasn’t always like this. With that being said even if you have to stop an assailant you can do it without killing them. It would be very effective to shot them in the leg, thus stopping their movement and getting the perpetrator without killing them. If the kill shot is really warranted than fine but lately I have been seeing the opposite.

Strike 1

A perfect example comes from where I live. There was a young boy in high school who had a mental disorder. He was becoming unruly and causing problems, he wasn’t on a murderous rampage, he was just acting out with his disorder. The sheriff knew that this young boy had a mental disorder but instead of giving the kid a chance he shot him and killed the boy in front of his younger brother. It still makes me sick thinking about it. They could have saved that boy and saved his brother the trauma of seeing him shot. But they couldn’t do that, they took the easy way out, and to add to that the officer despite being demoted was kept on the force. He is a liability to himself, the force, and the citizens of this county.

That hit me particularly hard because I have a mental disorder. It’s not as serious as what that boy had, it is just anxiety disorder. But nonetheless with the incident itself and the way it was handled I felt like it was a personal attack against people with disorders. Essentially it was saying this “We don’t know how to handle people with mental disorders, you’re crazy and can’t be trusted, we are better off shooting you first”. You may call it overreacting but all the local citizens agree with me. And all of this from someone we are supposed to trust, from someone we are supposed to go to in our time our need. It’s truly pathetic.  

Strike 2

The cops around here have let the power go to their head. You see them walking or in their patrol cars and they have this look on their face that directly says “I’m the shit, I’m better than everyone else.” They need to be confident I understand that, but this isn’t confidence it’s “I have my head up my ass cockiness.” Only about one out of every ten cops I see looks like a decent person who I could trust if need be. I hate that, I hated driving around feeling like the cops are my enemy instead of my friend, but that’s what their attitudes have driven me towards. It’s not just their poor attitudes it’s their sour actions.

A friend of mine told me about an incident she had one day a few weeks ago. Keep in mind we live in a safe part of town, not much problems with gangs, the prostitutes are all on the other side of town ect. She was going to the corner store early in the morning in her sweat pants with no make-up on for something to eat. A cop drove up and accused her of being a hooker. Alright… no caked on make-up, no fishnet stockings, no top that has her cleavage falling out. Actually quite the opposite, baggy clothes and no make-up, so where does he get off calling her a prostitute when she looks like that? It’s insulting to her, to women in general and it shows how much he doesn’t deserve to wear the badge.

Strike 3

I see this all the time. Someone is pulled over for something simple like speeding or a possible DUI. No big deal right? That’s what I would think. Yet within 10 minutes there are four cop cars surrounding him/her. One cop is actually taking down the information the rest are sitting in their cars or standing outside of their cars talking to each other with the lights flashing. What’s the damn point? You have nothing better to do? You all have to be on the side of the road talking while the citizens are paying for your “important” time. It’s disgusting and pathetic. I said we don’t have a big gang problem here but we do have one. I’m no expert but shouldn’t they be putting their time into something important instead of badgering a guy for going ten miles over the speed limit?

The law enforcement’s mantra is “To Serve and Protect” but lately I wonder if that remains even remotely true anymore. You have heard my examples that warrant this feeling and I’m sure you have some of your own. When is this going to end? When are we going to get the police officers that we deserve back? The ones that we can go up to and say I have a problem not that we look away from in fear. I can’t believe it’s gotten this bad but it has. The cops out there who are  good I thank you for your hard work and for doing what you feel is right despite what the other’s are doing to tarnish the badge. I don’t claim to know everything but what I do know is that something needs to change, we have to build this country up again not drag it down and that starts with making law enforcement what it should be once again.