by Robert M. Traxler
The police, mostly in large cities run by Democrats, are going into “badge defilade,” and who could blame them?
Two police officers were shot to death in McAllen, Texas, answering a domestic violence call. They knocked on the door, a man opened it, and shot the two officers to death. Both officers were minorities, by the way.
We are told a social worker would have done a better job of protecting the people whom the complaint said were being assaulted in the home. Just how that would have worked is, of course, not explained, just that a social worker would have saved the murderer from killing himself; concern for the dead murderer, but not much for the two police officers. That tells us everything.
Hate and prejudice apparently have two paths: politically correct hate and prejudice, and politically incorrect hate and prejudice. The American left was somewhat rational in their hate before this current anti-police crusade; however, currently there is no distance between the radical left and the mainstream left. If the call for defunding or disbanding the police does not scare you it should. Seventy percent of Americans do not approve of disbanding the police, leaving the 30% who are the Democrats’ liberal base.
The daughter of one of the slain officers in McAllen sent out a post eulogizing her dad. The post was removed as it had a hashtag stating “Blue Lives Matter,” a racist thing to say? Come on now folks, a grieving daughter who loved her father saying his life mattered is objectionable? It is racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, aquaphobic and claustrophobic?
Free speech? Not by a long shot, only politically correct speech allowed. Has it come to this? The daughter’s touching post was not objectionable, it was a benign heart-felt comment praising her beloved father’s life.
Please consider the movement to deny police officers the protections guaranteed to all of us in the U.S. Constitution. In a time when a criminal can commit numerous crimes and be released pending trial without a bail hearing, a police officer accused of wrongdoing is to be suspended without pay or benefits, based merely on an allegation of wrongdoing.
Ask yourself if you were a police officer, would you arrest anyone if they could exercise their right to file a complaint and you automatically lose your pay and medical coverage for your family?
Last weekend a 2-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and later died at the hospital, according to New York City police. The others who were shot in the same incident are expected to survive, police said. Suspects opened up on a group gathered for a barbecue with an AK-47. This, in a city with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.
In Chicago, 56 were shot and eleven and counting killed last weekend. To date, more people have been shot or killed in Chicago this year than were wounded or killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
Let’s be fair; the media and American left truly do not care that nearly 300 mostly young black men have been killed in Chicago in the first half of this year, it is not even news. The left wing will feign outrage to this charge, but no one marches, riots or loots in protest to this genocide of black men, women and children. Politically correct murder?
Major American cities, almost all suffering under the rule of the progressive, liberal, socialist movement, are death camps, and the left prefers to go wall to wall on the alleged (accused, not tried or convicted) wrongful death of two black men at the hand of the police. In 2018, according to the FBI uniform crime report, 16,214 people, disproportionally African Americans, were murdered. Outrage? None.
The American left is calling for the banning of police unions! The left disbanding unions? The progressive holy grail was that unions that stand for the worker are good. I agree with that, but the politically correct stand is that anything supporting the police is evil.
To the 30% progressive/liberals who want the police to go into “badge defilade,” beware of what you wish for you may just get it; the victims of increased crime will be poor minorities.
All other elements of your article aside, I am looking for clarification of one thing “defunding”. I have a great deal of respect for the officers I have worked with over the years, and one recently stated that he felt they were spread a little thin with the wide range of responsibilities they have. He shared much better, and more than I can. We ask them to be a soldier, and nursemaid at the same time, someone cool to hang out with and run to danger all at the same time. I think we ask too much, and support too little. So, I wonder is it possible to increase departments in some areas like de-escalation, social work, and augment what we already have? It would also help if we quintuple the counselors in k-12. This world is so strange and at times very hard, and helping young minds get a better view of the big picture, and being there for them during the hard times will go a long way to establishing better life paths.
Mr. Gieason,
Thank you for the comment.
De-escalation is an area that law enforcement has made great stride in over the years. In my early days of training words like “put wood on their head”, meaning hit them with a 21 inch piece of oak were used. Nightsticks are gone as are side bars. The police in the two most publicized incidents talked with the person for a good bit of time trying to de-escalate the situation, it works most of the time.
To answer your question more training is always a good course of action. More counselors in school may or may not help, peer pressure and belonging to a group even a gang is intoxicating for a young person looking for belonging and a family unit. Being there for them during hard times should be the role of the family, too bad to many family’s are dysfunctional. I suggest this is a failure of the social welfair system and not the police.
Thanks again.