I have thought about the whole police shootings, brutality, etc thing.
For me, the bottom line issue is really the attitude. The demeanor. The persons heart.
To use two examples, and if you agree with my assessments of these situations or not is not the point. I am going to use them to give an example of the way I look at it.
Also to try to tie it into my understanding of how God may look at our actions and what the bible says about it.
I believe the shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota was a probable case of the officer just being scared for his life, albeit without enough evidence to kill Philando. I do think his shooting of Philando was terrible judgement, bordering on being criminal (for me the intent is what determines that, something we may never truly know). The officer who shot him may just be a man who was caught up in a situation that he did not have the emotional makeup to respond to properly. It could be. Judging by what Philando's GF said, I believe that the cop shot him without reason. I don't know what he was thinking. If he was thinking that this was a black guy, and he may shot me because blacks are more violent then whites, I have a huge problem with that. If he was thinking something else, that was maybe not rational, something that did not fit the situation, I am more apt to show lenience because then it was more a question of his emotional / psychological state and not a biased toward blacks.
The Eric Garner incident, my mind is made up, and has been for a long time. The cop that choked Mr. Garner to death is an arrogant man who is numb and insensitive to other people, especially people who are black. He has the attitude, like to many cops, that brute force is the answer to his policing methods. That intimidation and abuse of power is how to police. That just about anyone who is doing just about anything illegal, even if it is selling illegal cigarettes is scum and a low life.
Now before I get responses like how do I know that, or it is not true, please, just stop.
I lived in Staten Island for 15 years. I lived in New York City for over 40 years. Not to far from where Eric Garner was slaughtered. I went to public schools in Brooklyn. I grew up and went to school and was friends with quite a few people who became cops. I know how they were raised, I know there families. I know them. So if we are going to be real about this, stop the BS and posturing and be genuine. I can have a conversation with anyone who is sincere, whatever their views. if we don't agree, I am cool with that. It is when they just want to be right, twist the facts, put to much of their ego into it, deny what is happening in real life when you lose me.
Christians especially should be transparent. The bible gives us the example. It does not white wash or try to hide sinful human behavior.
There are to many cops in NYC that are prejudiced. Just a few months ago my daughters ex BF told my daughter why is she going out with a N (he used the N word to describe my daughters current BF). This is a man in his early 30's saying this. Not a person who was born in 1940 and grew up influenced by society to think that way. He is living in NYC his whole life, a very liberal city. What does that say about how things may be in cities down south, or in other areas of the country if NYC still has people thinking like this.
I dated a black woman from Virginia who moved to NYC many years ago. We dated for a year and were engaged for a short time. But it didn't work out, not due to any issues of race though. She spoke to me about race relations and the treatment of blacks by hateful cops. Are you people who are defending cops actions saying she made this up? That she is delusional?
Are you all saying that tens of millions (40,000,000 to maybe 100,000,000) of Americans who have major issues with many, to many, LEO abuse of power are wrong, and that about 1.3 million police officers are always right?
I personally am of the mind that blacks, and minorities in general (and even whites, to a lesser degree) are more irked and angry less of the actual savage and senseless physical beatings and uncalled for killings by police then by the attitude of police. Yes, the needless killings are tragic. They rob families of fathers. And sons. And uncles. They also leave a scar on the cops who have perpetuated such a gratuitous act. It destroys lives in many ways. So I am not down playing that. But I think most people are furious at the disdainful and arrogant and haughty attitude cops sometimes display at even a traffic light stop.
And what makes it frustrating for civilians is that they feel they have little or no options to express their displeasure of the treatment by police. And anyone who wants to say it rarely happens, please, don't insult me, or others here who know better.
Cops are human, They have bad days. Even the best cops I am sure have regretted some things they have said to citizens.
I will say that maybe placing a man or woman, any human being into a situation of being a cop is a losing proposition. They see things everyday God did not make us to deal with on a daily basis. It is a incredibly demanding and tough profession. But that does not excuse the indulgence of good cops who say nothing to their superiors about bad cops. This is yet another major issue the American public has with cops. The legal arm of America pounds the public to say something if you see or hear of something illegal. Be it family or friends
But when does a cop step forward and inform a superior officer about what they know to be unnecessary beatings? Or when they know a particular cop has a major attitude issue with the public, or just can not handle the job? So the public looks at police at being extremely hypocritical.
Do police self enforce their own? Not in a official manner, but among themselves? Could it be even worse, is that what some of you are implying, because they do?
And then their is the issue of cops having to make quotas of arrests or tickets. The public knows this. So how do you think this si going to effect their view of police?
I think considering the decades of police abuse heaped upon blacks and other races, the public has been outlandishly patient. I hope no more cops are killed. I hope people realize that the situation has to be changed using other methods. But this does remind me somewhat of the violent civil right days. When a people feel they have been abandoned , when their voices are not heard, when the powers that be ignore them, and they have little to lose, then what do you think the next step is going to be?
So yeah, like God, I look at the motivations of the heart. And intuitively, I think the public does to. Policing is a profession where sometimes civilians are going to be hurt, even killed, by well meaning cops who you would want your daughter to marry. We all got that. That is not the problem the public has with cops. It is with their seemingly, and soentimes real disregard for human life, for peoples rights, and their arrogant attitudes.
As an aside, I find it alarming, and heartless, that those of you who are staunch supporters of the current system and of the cop civilian killers (a very tiny percentage of cops, BTW, but still far to many) have NOT ONCE, not any of you, to my recall have expressed any remorse about the civilian men who have been killed in the last few days. Or their families. Or the GF and her young daughter who will traumatized for life. I keep saying it, that speaks volumes to me.
Also, i was listening to the radio the other day, and one of the speakers said there are about 1000 killings of civilians every year by police. Initially I thought, is that true? That is a lot of deadly force being used.That sounds like a lot. But then I thought, maybe it is true, and maybe, relatively speaking, it is not a lot.
But we have this trend:
In recent years, the use of military equipment and tactics for community policing and for public order policing has become more widespread under the 1033 program.[SUP]
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Lawmakers have begun to discuss the topic.[SUP]
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[/SUP]And aslo when considering this:
In 2010, the FBI estimated that law enforcement agencies made 13,120,947 arrests (excluding traffic violations). Of those persons arrested, 74.5% were male and 69.4 percent of all persons arrested were white, 28.0 percent were black, and the remaining 2.6 percent were of other races.[SUP]
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[/SUP]So 13,120,000 arrests, and about 1,000 shootings by cops of civilians, maybe there actually is restraint on their part more then they get credit for.
Last, it is not irresponsible for anyone who is an average citizen to state their views regarding police brutality. We are not elected leaders who need to consider whom they serve. What is irresponsible is cops needlessly killing people. And then trying to censor the public by telling them their comments are irresponsible. We serve God. To not speak up against injustices, to not speak up for those who do not enjoy the same benefits of us, to not speak up against the abuse of power, that would be us being irresponsible.
