Saturday, May 16, 2015

Every Life Matters

The police have become a main focus in the media lately. Both for good and bad reasons, but mainly the bad. I find myself constantly coming to the defense of the police. Do I think there are bad cops out there, heck yes. Just like there are bad people in all walks of life. But overall the police are not bad people. They go places, see things and handle situations that most people never have to do. They are put in situations daily that could keep them from going home at the end of their shift. They go into work everyday knowing that what they do is not appreciated by most and that on top of all the regular things they face they may come into contact with someone pissed off at them because of something some cop in some other state has done. And this has been made even more obvious by the killing of the two cops in Mississippi last weekend. Every life matters.
Now I am hearing that some police departments are offering bias training. I'm not sure if it is mandatory..yet. But it is out there. Not just for police departments but for any type of work environment, apparently. I am afraid this has the potential to hurt, not help situations. Some people have biased towards cops, is there going to be training so people aren't biased against them? Because unless that happens nothing is going to change.
 I have seen interviews where people say they are afraid of cops and for some reason think that's a bad thing. Cops are an authority figure and if they are doing their job right there should be a healthy fear of them. Just like teachers, parents, or anyone in authority. I'm afraid of cops too. But mainly because every time I have encountered them it was because I was doing something wrong. Just last year I was pulled over for speeding. This cop was so nasty to me. I was telling one person the story and then I said I was going 80 in a 60mph zone. The person laughed and said well maybe that's why he was so mad. I thought about it and said, good point. Of course people will say I am a white woman so I don't truly understand. And they may be right. Sometimes though I think people need to step out of the box and look at things with a clear eye. Maybe even think what could I have done to make the situation different.
I was recently watching the testimony of several of the cops who were first on the scene at the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. The shooting that happened almost three years ago during the superman movie. The prosecutor asked each one of them what the scene was like when they got to the theater, what they saw and encountered. Each one of them got choked up and you could hear in their voices that they were experiencing that scene all over again. It was heartbreaking. All first responders have a job to do that most would not, could not do.
Some people think we shouldn't have any cops at all. Some people think they should all be run by the federal government. I think they should just fix the problems they have and that people need to start taking responsibility for themselves before the government decides that they are going to do it for us. And then we will all be screwed!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:04 AM

    nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know that, unfortunately, there are a lot of bad cops:( They cooperate with drug dealers, children abusers, and other bad guys.

    ReplyDelete

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