Army Bob: What will be the effect of ‘Ferguson effect?’

A police officer kills an African American lawfully or unlawfully, and the people hits the streets to protest, it is their right. When the media goes into overdrive hyping a statistically rare occurrence, the protests turn into violence with destruction of property, loss of life and arson; its not their right.

The media goes into overdrive to highlight the police response as criminal, calling for the prosecution of the police, not those who launch projectiles and firebombs at the police.  Major cities cut the police budget, police officers operating under the fear of doing their job the way they were trained will be then jailed, sued, and their families and lives will be destroyed.

The police go into “badge defilade,” crime soars. It is called the Ferguson effect.

In Ferguson, Missouri, a police officer shot and killed a young African American man during a struggle for the officer’s sidearm. A person was found who maintained he saw the officer shoot the man in the back while he had his hands up yelling “don’t shoot,” and the media ran with it. Police were vilified, protests turned into violence, and the media/Democrats called for the officer’s head on a platter.

All police officers were painted with the racist label and presumed guilty until proven innocent, beyond any doubt. The media could have asked the attending physician at the hospital, or the St. Louis County Mo. pathologist where the entrance and exit wounds were, back or front,  and there was stippling around the entrance wound, indicating a close contact shot. They could have, but the truth would get in the way of a good story.

After Ferguson, the crime rates soared; African American communities were the most affected — hundreds were murdered and violence increased. Meanwhile, back at the false story, the media honored those who published the total lie with awards and decorations; reporters and editors were promoted and held in awe by their peers.

Even after proof of the officer’s innocence was known, left wing folks dismissed it as a red herring or urban rumor. Even today protesters chant “hands up don’t shoot,” something that was never said, but who cares? It sounds good.

The Ferguson effect is back; an African American was allegedly killed by the police, I say allegedly as no trial has yet  occurred. The media ran with it, the lawful and legal even morally correct protests turn into riots, arson, looting, assaults and murders. Calls for defunding or eliminating the police are chanted by the media. The protesters call for the due process and constitutional rights of accused police officers to be suspended; officers accused, not convicted, merely accused.

Now that the Ferguson effect is in force, let’s look at the outcome. Last weekend in Chicago, 67 people were shot, 17 and counting are dead, one a 14-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. An 8-year-old African American girl was shot and killed by the armed militia “guarding” the burned-out Wendy’s in Atlanta after her mother drove around barricades set up by the armed mob. Outrage? Media coverage? None.

Ten major cities, all run by the Democrats, by the way, have had a major spike in murders and nearly every category of crime over the weekend. In New York, five were shot and three died in a three-hour period. Gun violence has doubled in New York every week since the police killed a man in Minnesota and the anti-law enforcement/defunding movement started. Last month, June saw the largest amount of violent crime in 25 years: robberies, assaults and murders.

The history of law enforcement going back to Sir Robert Peel in 1829, founding the Metropolitan Police in a place named Scotland Yard, London, tells us that the two things that prevent crime are police presence and lighting. Sir Robert’s police were called Peelers, or Bobby’s men shortened to Bobbies. Pull the police out of an area and crime increases, and has ever since we started keeping records. The Boston Police department proved police presence reduces crime going back to its founding in 1854. The Boston PD wore a badge snipped from a sheet of copper, so the officers were called Coppers, shortened to Cops.

With 800,000 plus police officers, some will be bad, but to condemn all 800,000 because of the actions of a few is prejudice in its truest form. To my liberal friends, beware of what you wish for, as you may get it. Defund or eliminate the police and crime will increase always has, always will. It is minority communities that will suffer the most, but it will make white liberals and the media feel good.