Saturday, November 2, 2013

perspective on police

So one week we are learning of a 12 year old and a 14 year old who kill their teachers, and the next week, when a policeman shoots a 13 year old carrying a toy weapon that looked very much like the real thing, suddenly 13 is too young to be a suspect?
If you believe the policeman was lying about what happened, fine, this is unjustified and tragic. But if he is telling the truth, he really had no other option.
No, you cannot point a gun, toy or otherwise at the police.
And no, you cannot run from the police after they have told you to stop.
Maybe this seems unfair to you, but the police have an unfair job. They can pull over a speeder and get killed.
Can you not imagine how stressful that would be, day after day?
We NEED police, and while the nature of the job may lure people who definitely do not belong in the profession, for the most part, the screening and training process keep them out. If there is misconduct, it needs to be dealt with swiftly and strictly, because they do carry such a heavy load in society.
But that load means society also owes them some consideration. There certainly are bad cops, but that doesn't mean all cops are bad or that it is bad to be a cop. We cannot make them feel that way, because that will push more of them into misbehavior.
And, as bad as we may feel for the family, we cannot let their emotion drive the reaction.

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