16 July 2008

TO PROTECT AND SERVE

Recently, a local police officer was arrested for sexual abuse. He also shot and killed a young, unarmed Irish man. Two separate incidents. His lawyer says that we the people shouldn't think about the killing when trying him for the rape. Yeah! Right!
This crooked cop got me to thinking (which can be a dangerous activity for me). Just how many of those people hired to protect us FROM criminals really ARE criminals?
If it is, as the police and media would have us believe, a very few, then these few crooked cops are making it much more difficult for the honest, hard working men and women who lay their lives on the line to keep our society civil and livable.
On the other hand, if there a lot of cops raping, killing dealing drugs and generally engaging in nefarious activities, then you and I are in a real spot. When a cop comes to the door or pulls us over in our car, do we comply, let them in our home, hand them all of our paperwork or whatever else they ask, or do we arm ourselves and do our best to barricade them from our homes, cars and businesses in an effort to protect ourselves and our families from getting kidnapped, raped and murdered by the very people that are supposed to protect us?
This dilemma may very well get some good cops killed. What do you do? If any other criminal shows up at your door and tries to force their way in, you have (in most states) the right to use deadly force to protect your life. But if you shoot a cop, even if he/she was trying to kill you, you'll probably spend the rest of your life in prison. Or worse. After all; who is the court going to believe? How many of the cops that are accused of a crime ever get ARRESTED or CONVICTED? Most bad cops that I've known (quite a few) got promotions instead of jail time. Fellow officers won't purge them from their numbers. Prosecutors are loath to pursue their misdeeds. The media whitewashes their crimes to "protect the good cops".
What is really needed, in my opinion, is a citizen review board that scrutinizes every allegation against any law enforcement personnel or organization, with mandatory federal prosecution for any crime committed by them. I also believe that, other than minor traffic offenses, a crime committed by any federal, state, county or local law enforcement officer should be a separate, federal felony. Set up an anonymous system for the good cops to report and investigate these crimes and get the oversight out of the hands of the good-ol-boys networks and into someplace where there's at least a chance of the people getting some justice.
THAT will really protect the "good cops" by preventing any retaliation towards the good cops from their coworkers. And maybe we the people can begin to regain some trust and confidence in our justice system.
That's my opinion. Tell me what you think.

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