All Lives Matter

[MsDimeanor]

Reposting a facebook post I read today. Couldn't have said it better myself.

"It's not the police who need to be retrained, it's the public. We have grown into a mouthy, cell phone wielding, vulgar, uncivil society with no personal responsibility and the attitude of 'it's the other person's fault', 'you owe me'. A society where children grow up with no boundaries or knowledge or concern for civil society and personal responsibility.

When an officer says "Put your hands up," then put your hands up! Don't reach for something in your pocket, your lap, your seat. There's plenty of reason for a police officer to feel threatened, there have been multiple assaults and ambushes on police officers lately. Comply with requests from the officer, have your day in court. Don't mouth off, or fight, or refuse to comply... that escalates the situation.

Police officers are our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. They're black, white, brown, all colors, all ethnicities, all faiths, male and female, they are us. They see the worst side of humanity... the raped children, the bloody mangled bodies of traffic victims, the bruised and battered victims of domestic violence, homicide victims, body parts... day after day.

They work holidays while we have festive meals with our families. They miss school events with their kids, birthdays, anniversaries, all those special occasions that we take for granted. They work in all types of weather, under dangerous conditions, for relatively low pay.

They have extensive training, but they are human. When there are numerous attacks on them, they become hyper vigilant for a reason, they have become targets. When a police officer encounters any person... any person, whether at a traffic stop, a street confrontation, an arrest, whatever... that situation has the potential to become life threatening. You, Mr & Mrs/Miss Civilian, also have the responsibility of keeping the situation from getting out of control.

Many, the majority, of law enforcement officers are Veterans. They've been in service to this nation most of their lives, whether on the battlefield or protecting us here at home. They are the only thing that stands between us and anarchy in the streets.

If you want to protect your child, teach them respect... for themselves, for you as a parent, for their teachers, for police officers. Police officers do not make the laws, they merely enforce them. If you don't like the law, be proactive in the political process. The police officer doesn't have, or want, the role of judge and jury.

If you get a speeding ticket... were you speeding? Don't blame the cop if you broke the law. Go to court, pay the fine, don't do it again.

It's easy to judge, it's harder to look within oneself and see what your role should be as a citizen, as a responsible person seeing both sides of the issue.

All lives matter, Blue lives matter, too!"

[dckx]

While that facebook post makes a point (although in a somehow simplistic, kind of naive way), there still is something profoundly fucked up about law enforcement in this country.

[tripullcrown]

DC you Rock

[RAPT(+)R]

There's also something profoundly fucked up in that kids aren't raised to respect proper authority anymore. Little johnny doesn't grow up knowing that the stove will burn him if he touches it because mom and dad keep him in his safe space. Long and short guys there's more than one reason for what's going on. The breakdown of the family, the overgrowth of government, the militarization of the police force, the recruitment of "god's with badges and guns", fathers not being there to raise their kids, the removal of Godly principles from this country, a flawed education system... on and on it goes. ALL of these things are contributing factors. And there is no "fix" that we can vote for. We have to do the fixing in the little world around us. Our sphere of influence is what we have to change. The president isn't going to change it although he can help or hurt it. But it's the people who have to change.

[High on Death]

Nuke the gay whales for Jesus!

[dckx]

You are right, Raptor, in pointing out that this is an extremely complex problem that has no immediate solution. Still, I believe it is important to discuss the problem at an abstract/idealistic level, in a how-things-should-be kind of way.

Law enforcement exists because there also exist the assumption that civil societies are not perfect —i.e. some of its members will break the law in diverse ways. If that wasn't the case, law enforcement agencies wouldn't have a reason to be at all, not in their current form and function, at least. And then, given that a group of men and women have been put apart from the rest of society to serve and protect us all, there is the expectation that they will do so in a right manner. Now, what is the right manner? I believe law enforcement officers should put other's lives before theirs, even if those other lives are criminals; I believe they should only take civilians lives when they represent an imminent threat to other civilians. And the reason is simple: they enforce, not serve, the law. In theory (and most times in practice), the relationship between law enforcement agent and unlawful citizen is so asymmetrical (in terms of physical power, gun power, training, etc.) that they are in the position of doing MANY THINGS to enforce the law without serving it. In other words, to neutralize and apprehend an alleged lawbreaker rather than killing him or her. I am not saying that they should let get themselves killed; what I am saying is that they should do SO many things before pulling that trigger, starting by making sure their lives are in such great danger that the only possible solution is shooting the criminals (one time, not ten). To me, it is simply one of the downsides of their job: when they wear that uniform, it is their obligation to risk their lives to protect others'.

Now, this become a bigger issue when you see police officers killing people that are innocent and/or very far from being an immediate threat to the officers' safety (let alone other civilians' safety). That is FUCKED UP —probably way more fucked up than a kid that is not raised to respect authority. In regards to which it is worth asking why is it that in "the land of the free" there are so many people that completely legitimize the actions of overpowered law enforcement agencies, even when their disproportionate actions so unnecessarily and arbitrarily trample one's freedom? In the they-are-the-authority-and-must-be-obeyed reasoning, they could pretty much instruct to suck one's own dick and one would have to obey to not risk being shot 20 times in the back.

All what I've said so far also applies to police brutality or abuse (police officers here and everywhere are sometimes so arrogant and conceited and aggressive and violent). Anyway, this gets even more fucked up, in my opinion, when law enforcement agents act in these ways moved by racism —that is modifying their behavior based on generalizations about a particular individual's race or ethnicity. For example, a police officer is convinced that a black person is more likely to attack them because they believe (correctly or erroneously) that black persons are more violent or more likely to be carrying guns, and therefore they shoot them. To me, it is fucked up that they shoot to kill rather than neutralize. And it is double-fucked up that they do so because of racial generalizations.

But it sill continues to get more fucked up when there are so many people that believe there is not a problem out there. That law enforcement agents make the right decisions when they kill someone because they stepped out of their car in a traffic detention. Or when they kill a teenager because they thought they were going to attack them. Or those who believe police officers are not racist. They will say police agents would have done whatever they did a black person to a white individual (or asian, so no one feels alluded). There is a great deal of racism in this country (not only in the police). That is a fact that becomes quickly evident to those of us who come here from abroad (I imagine it must be equally evident for minorities that are born here). It is funny as well how people feel offended when someone points that out —me and people who openly acknowledge racism are not pointing anyone in particular, nor judging anyone in specific. We are just recognizing that there are racial issues that are deeply rooted, which is to be expected given the US old and recent history. Even I am unconsciously racist due to all what you export as a culture —movies, books, music, media— to the rest of the world.

Anyway, regarding potential solutions, I think there are of two main kinds: the ones leading to reduce the number of criminals, and the ones leading to reduce police brutality and over-attributions. For the first ones, I believe the keys to be education and better redistribution of wealth (it just has been proven to work). I do not think it is related to religious or godly values, but rather universal, humanist values (which are greatly influenced Judeo-Christian tradition, but are at this point completely secularized). Family is important, but every kind of family, right? Or homo-parental families do not work? In any case, all these cultural changes are important, but will take generations. So hopefully something can be done sooner than that. I believe that reducing police brutality and over-attributions is equally important, and probably more effective in the short term. Changing police procedures, recruiting better candidates, having more psychological support, BETTER PAYMENT, are all things that can be considered.

But I believe it all starts with recognizing that a big part of law enforcement agents are prone to power abuse, sometimes by just being assholes, but many other times by being physically violent, and plain murderers. Again, society is fucked and will ever be fucked up, so it is not a problem of people not respecting the law, or not obeying direct instructions from officers; it is a problem of police officers shooting to kill when there is not a real reason to do so, considering they are trained to neutralize a subject in so many ways, and considering that a part of their job is to risk their lives to server and protect both innocents and criminals.

[JawnDough]

You guys miss the big picture..........all this police shooting civilians and civilians shooting police is hyped up by the media because the agenda is to cause confusion and chaos in society and so that we distrust the police so the politicians can bring in the U.N. peacekeepers to police us instead. Yes there are some bad cops, but most of this crap is exaggerated one sided garbage so they can control us. You think our cops are bad? Wait till the U.N. troops come over and take our guns away. (which has already been signed into law by Obama via the small arms treaty with the U.N.) DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SEE ON THE NEWS.......it's entertainment and propaganda, not news.

[tripullcrown]

Yes ... OBAMA has doomed us all and its his fault when the Martians get here...... Education...education...education..... dumb white folks and dumb black folks make dumb societies which makes a dumb fucking country...."The Martians are coming" Really????? Lmao...This is what is cancer in our country,.. people LOVE to use false rhetoric to stir up stupidity amongst many or any. ..Im speechless and not understanding if we as a clan are using this platform to share INTELLIGENT thoughts , find common ground within each other for better politics and strategies to our country or.......just talk straight up bullshit that does nothing but make us dumber than we were before we read some of these posts.

Personally i think we are all fucked and believe a lot worse shit is ahead to come. Until we start to believe in love and truth and stop believing in perception and classification, We will never have honesty and in that case what is real........Hell?

Mankind has shown time and time again throughout history that there is an abundance of people that don't want to know the truth they just don't, Its easier to cope. If they can believe in lawful good of a man Its so much easier to swallow, its so much easier to sleep. To believe in the chotic evil of man is alot harder and uncomfortable. Many people do not want to go there and visit that thought, they are uncomfortable with that. Even when you put it on their 60" HD tv in their own living rooms so they can see for themselves. These people say things while watching like "NAH they didnt do that" or "there must be a reason why they did that". They want to believe so bad in their mind that "there must be a reason" that they are willing to go as far as to create one. Whether in their minds or falsify amongst their peers or in everyday discussions it makes it so much easier to move on...This behavior does not confine itself to any race or creed! It is however robbing all of us in society of another single voice of reason and purity and replace it with a voice of fear and confusion. My father once told me ...."You can choose to be your own voice or you can choose to be your shadows voice but there is only one choice thats gonna make you a real mothef&^ker".

[tripullcrown]

Well spoken Raptor!!!!

[High on Death]

Obama is a dedicated Marxist who hates this country and feels it is his right to unleash as much punisment on us as possible, to atone for the crimes of capitalism. In any measure you care to site, his presidency has been an unmitigated disaster for this country and it's people.