I want to start this one off by redirecting you to a local news page that posted a video of a incident that occurred last year. I want you to especially concentrate on the comments section of that video. It is...amazing, to say the least.
https://www.facebook.com/KOAA/posts/10203286864874680
Now, I want to direct your attention to my comment; I so very badly wanted to continue my rant, but I decided to turn it into a blog discussion, instead. Yes, I said "discussion". I want to hear from my readers, whomever you are, whether you agree or not. Do you think the officer did the right thing?
For a different perspective, here's another link:
http://www.centredaily.com/2014/03/04/4066904/video-albuquerque-officer-shot.html
This article states, "Ortega is not seen holding a gun in the video...".
That is false. You can clearly see him toss the firearm over the van as he runs.
This is the comment I left on my local News crew's Facebook post about this incident, after reading through the nearly 100 comments:
"Good lord. A lot of hostility toward cops in this thread. I truly hope that none of you ever needs help from the police...wow.
The being said, I absolutely think the officer did the right thing in this instance. He, and other officers, are trained to "Protect and Serve", and to enforce the law. This man BROKE several laws and put people's lives in danger...
If the officer would have let this man go, and he would have been allowed to continue committing crimes, the argument would be that the officer was "negligent". Since he was shot and taken into custody, the officer is suddenly deemed "overzealous"? Really???
Are there crooked cops, and egomaniacs behind the badge? Absolutely, just as there are egomaniacs behind the keyboard (as this comment thread proves).
I absolutely cannot stand this attitude the public takes toward the men and women who protect us. They put on vests and load their weapons, and keep *your* children safe, all while praying to make it home to *theirs*. It's amazing how one group of people can be, simultaneously, the heroes AND the villains...how does that work?"
I'd love to elaborate upon that, further. Here is my full opinion of the police: They are heroes. Period.
These are men and women who put their lives on the line to help complete strangers through difficult times. They dry the tears of abused and battered women. They provide teddy bears to children who have just watched their house burn down. They stop and help stranded motorists along-side busy, treacherous roads. They are out in the elements 365 days a year. No matter what is going on in their personal lives, no matter how bad the weather is, how icy the roads are, how bad that flu is kicking their asses, how deep the flood-waters are...they are there, with the courage to help their community.
They are not teddy bears, themselves. They are armed public servants. They protect their community with deadly force when it is required. When the wolf comes howling at your door, you call the police, because simply the thought of someone coming to your rescue is comforting. They are sheepdogs, overlooking their flock, because they really, truly, just want you to be safe. They want your children to be able to play in the yard without fear of getting kidnapped. They want you to walk to the corner store without fear that you are going to get killed.
Yet, somehow, somewhere along the road, they've become Villains; arch enemies of the people. Children in elementary schools are being taught to fear and loathe the police, by their (no doubt) criminal parents. They are being taught to hate the very people who have the means to help them.
Whaaaa???
I just...
Wow.
Yes, officers sometimes make mistakes. They are human. I truly believe, however, that in the heat of any potentially scary moment, the first instinct is usually the best decision. Could the officer have done something differently? No. In that moment, he did what he believed was the absolute best thing: he stopped a dangerous criminal from going loose, back into society, the quickest way he could. He shot him.
Now, six months later, the media has gotten hold of the tape, and are starting to sling adjectives around. They are calling the man dangerous, "trigger-happy", negligent, overzealous...etc...
(I have to stop here. I need a deep breath, or I'm going to explode...)
It's easy to look back at any situation, from the comfort of an office chair, and say, "That could have been handled more efficiently." However, until you've been placed in the exact scenario, you can never know what that officer was thinking, or feeling, in the seconds before he pulled the trigger and stopped a dangerous fugitive in his tracks.
It's easy to place blame on the officers, because to be frank, officers are easy marks. It's easy to blame them for all the things that have gone poorly in your life:
Late for work? "Damn cop should have just let me go. He didn't *have* to stop me. Surely there are worse things out there than speeders!"
Find yourself landed in a jail cell? "Fuckin' PIG! He could have just let me go! Surely there are worse things out there than drunks."
Got a ticket:? "Jesus Christ! Why did that asshole have to stop me? It's only a headlight!"
...it's easy to redirect blame. It's easy NOT to take responsibility for our own actions. Cops are easy to hate, simply because of the nature of the job. They, in the very basest sense, are professional scolders. Whenever you do something wrong, and get caught, there they are in all their uniformed glory to tell you exactly what you did, and make you pay for it. Nobody likes being scolded, and nobody likes being disciplined.
What nobody considers is what the police officers have seen earlier in the shift, what they've gone through in their careers that make them so hardened, so unlikely to "let things slide."
The public doesn't see the dead pedestrian, caused by a car going too fast to stop at the red light.
We don't see the carnage of a fatal accident, where the driver was drunk; the child who is now parent-less.
We don't see the wife-beater who got away, simply because the license plate lights on his car were out.
We just don't SEE...
I get so very pissed off at people when they trash-talk the police. Perhaps it's because I have friends who are officers, or perhaps it's because my uncle was a Deputy for a short time...or maybe it's just because I was raised right.
Don't take me the wrong way. I'm not an angel. I have my fair share of speeding tickets. I have a misdemeanor on my record. You know why? Because I screwed up. Me. Not them. I am pissed at myself for doing something stupid, not them for doing their jobs...
Until we are thrust into the same situations that the men and women in blue deal with, everyday, for 20 years or more, we cannot understand the split-second decisions they make. Until we walk in their shoes, we cannot judge them for their mistakes. Until we wear the badge, we should leave the Kangaroos out of the Courts.
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