Saturday, July 9, 2016

What Is Wrong With Cops?


Man, where do I start?

There are so many things wrong with cops.

#1 is they are just like us.

They are human.

If we are honest, we have a lot wrong with us too.

We are human.

We make mistakes.

Within every group of people there are the best and worst versions of the group as a whole.

There are good doctors and bad doctors.

There are good lawyers and bad lawyers.

Good Muslims and bad Muslims.

Good Christians and bad Christians.

Good cops and bad cops.

The issue comes from the inclusion of the “bad” with the group as a whole. Just because some Christians are bad, doesn’t mean they all are. I mean, look at the Crusades. Holy crap. Could they have looked more brutal and violent? Similar to the way the extreme Muslims are today. But not all Muslims are extreme Muslims. Not all Christians were crusaders. Remember that.

But it is dangerous also to protect everyone in a group. Good cops protecting bad cops is intended to strengthen the group, but in the long run, it just breaks it down. This is very similar to the Catholic Church. Have you seen Spotlight? What did the church do? Protected the bad priests. What did it do? Fractured the religion as a whole. All because they wanted to protect the shitheads. Just like this.
When a cop makes a mistake, and we all make mistakes, they need to be held accountable just like everyone else. This is not an attack on police officers, this is to make sure the institution stays strong. 

We need police. They protect us. They are designed to keep us safe. When they don’t do that, those individuals, and they are just individuals, need to go.

I am not talking about every instance a cop shoots someone. If you have a gun, if it’s out, I do not have much pity for you if you get shot. As sad as it is, if I pull a gun out against other people with guns, no matter who they are, I am just asking to get shot. I would love to see cops use rubber bullets and block guns (because I don’t think anyone is staying on the offense with 25 rubber bullets up their ass), but we aren’t there yet.

I am talking about when a cop has someone on the ground. When two cops have someone on the ground, and instead of holding them down, they pull out their gun and shoot. Totally unnecessary. Inexcusable. You are a professional. You have been trained to deal with situations like this and you failed. You should be held accountable. Bad cop.

I am talking about when a father is in the car, complying with the officer, pulling out his ID and he gets shot in front of his child. Doing everything right? Complying? No resistance? And you still get shot? Bad cop.

Selling cigarettes on the corner in NYC? Getting murdered in a chokehold on camera? And nothing happens? Bad cop. Horrible cop. But they are still on the force. They are still out there, a shit cop who does not do their job well, and the man he failed is 6ft underground. His family sitting down for dinner without him. No more birthdays. No more memories. Nothing. For selling cigarettes and crossing paths with a bad cop.

This is the issue.

The only thing wrong with cops is they are human. They make mistakes. Just like us. Some are stupid. Just like us. Some are scared. Just like us. Some are terrible at their job. Just like us.

If a doctor made an egregious error, they would lose their license.

If a lawyer did his job poorly, they would be disbarred.

If an officer fails his community, fails the situation, he gets protected, he gets suspended, and then he gets his job back. Same city. Same gun. Same badge. Same bad cop.

You are trained to diffuse the situation. You are trained to serve and protect. You are trained to assess a situation and determine if it is dangerous or not, life threatening or not. You are a professional at all those things.

Professional baseball players that can’t hit, get cut.

Professional wide receivers that can’t catch, get cut.

If a professional police officer doesn’t do their job, and they don’t do it so badly that people die, they 
rarely if ever lose their job.

That’s an issue.

I love cops.

They are vital to our lives whether you like to admit it or not.

They make mistakes.

But the biggest problem is with the protection of the ones that make mistakes. The ones that should not be cops in the first place. At least the ones that shouldn’t be cops any more.

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

Officers. With all due respect. You have some brittle links.

It is time to re-evaluate your position. Clean out the weak links. And strengthen the chain as a whole.

RIP officers in Dallas.

RIP every officer killed in the line of duty.

And

RIP murdered men and women at the hands of bad cops.

Protesters. Let your voices be heard. But please be a part of the solution, and not an extension of the problem.

Be safe out there.

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