Thursday, June 9, 2011

Ya know, he's got a point

About the fact that, while we as legally armed individuals have always been perceived as a threat by (many, if not most) of the police officers in this country, we as citizens have, more and more, every reason to perceive police officers as a threat to our safety.

And he's right. It ain't gonna end well for any of us.

And I find that sad. When I was but a lad, and into my earlier years as an adult, I knew many police officers. Many were, quite frankly, complete screaming assholes. I did not like them, and they did not like me. But I respected them, as they were what I believed a police officer should be....Sheepdogs. Guardians of the herd, if you will. People as well as officers, who were respected in their community and generally didn't need to create that respect with force. Officers who used their authority carefully. Many of those "assholes" would have been the first people I would turn to for help. Sadly, more and more, there are fewer and fewer officers of that caliber in our police forces today.

But today there are too many instances where the police force their authority (or what authority they think they should have) with violence and firearms. And they get away with it too often. And they hide behind the "blue wall". Which makes them, in the minds of many of the citizens which they are supposed to protect, just another gang, only one with badges. And they lose, by their behavior, the respect that they need in order to do their jobs effectively. 

Many of those officers who I once knew are gone now. But I think that they would shake their heads and spit at the incidents that happen today.

More thoughts HERE

No comments: