It’s random and years apart

Posted: August 29, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Annoying things, complaints, Safety | Leave a comment »

There was a recent incident where an officer was forced to defend himself to the point of firing his weapon, a.k.a. an officer-involved-shooting. No need to go into details. The main thing is that the officer and those present were kept safe by the quick actions and training of this officer. The subject happened to live. Whether the subject lived or died is not what’s under consideration in this post (he happened to be fortunate enough to survive his wounds despite his foolish actions).

That the officer, and those present, were saved by this officer should have been the end of the matter. But it’s not. At least not with the public. Cries of, the officer is a (insert insult), the officer should have (insert we-know-better-action) are running rampant in comments made on a news article. Although there are some supportive comments, the one that really irks me is the one where a conspiracy-minded person insists that another past incident where this officer was again forced to defend others, should be investigated.

These two incidents were random. Random, as in not planned, not linked together, one having nothing to do with the other! And they were years apart! It’s not the fault of this officer that on, such-and-such a date, that an idiot would threaten to kill a woman nor was it the fault of this officer that recently (years later) another troubled person would threaten the lives of those present.

What is clear, is that the public and his fellow officers were very fortunate to have this officer, with his years of training and experience, there to protect them, without regard to his own life. Again, without regard to his own life. Where this officer should be praised and thanked some seem to find only fault with his life-saving actions. To the people who want this officer investigated….why?

Two times he saved the lives of people who would otherwise have surely been harmed. Two times, the training and experience of this officer proved to be invaluable.

If it should happen that this officer is called upon to defend others again, we can rest assured that this officer will do what is needed to protect those around him. There are plenty of people who need to be investigated. This officer is not one of them.

Maybe this is the way to go?

Posted: July 31, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: complaints, fight, Justice, Police, Suing | Leave a comment »

Maybe this is the way to go http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/255309 to counter some of the hurtful nonsense perpetuated by the groups in this police one article.

Start holding them accountable for their lies and utter babble, bring them before the courts and start sending a message to them that their comments, which perpetuate fear and mistrust of LE, will not be tolerated. Maybe this could start to change things, I don’t know.

The Roanoke officer in the article won the suit after an activist compared him to a Klansman. The activist ending up paying the officer $5000 for defamation.

And again…

Another Roanoke officer sued a critic in 1995. In that case, an officer who was accused of using excessive force, then cleared, filed a lawsuit against his accuser and won $2,500.

They seem like small amounts but it could start to send a message to those groups, who often accuse officers of wrong-doing. Maybe this is more wishful thinking but it would be good if officers could bring suits against Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of this world, I’d sure like to see them held accountable for their lies and race-baiting.

Is this the way to start to change things?

They’re making noise

Posted: July 15, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: complaints, neighbors | Leave a comment »

“They’re making noise and we can’t sleep!”

So went the complaints to the police.

Our neighborhood was plagued by a teenage neighbor and his friends who had a garage band and a skateboard ramp. The neighbor kid would be on the ramp all hours of the day and night (made me wonder if the kid ever ate). We started filing complaints with the police. They would come and tell the kid to quiet down. He didn’t listen. Our neighborhood was getting very frustrated as we had tried everything we could think of to get him to be quiet.

One one occasion, a neighbor called the police again and this time the deputy came out to speak with her. The deputy listened to her complaint then went over to the offending party and listened to their side. I was at my neighbor’s house at the time, partly because I wanted to hear what the deputy’s advice would be. He came back over to my neighbor’s house and told us some of what was said.

The deputy basically said they have a right to make some noise but not after certain hours and they were told to have some consideration for their neighbors.

We wanted the brat to stop completely.

We still complained.

It was more the ramp that annoyed us, especially at three in the a.m. While we weren’t exactly happy that there wouldn’t be any more noise from the ramp, we were glad the offending neighbors got a talking to from the police.

Just before the deputy left, he chatted with us, telling us how the weekend had been going for the police. There had been two car accidents involving teenagers the night before, just fifteen minutes apart. Both teenagers had been about sixteen years old. There were fatalities with alcohol being a factor. The deputy pointed out that at least the offending neighbor’s parents knew where the kid was. We agreed. We were sad that there had been a loss of life and at such an early age.

The deputy said the department was having a hard time handling it. He seemed very quiet as he told us about the events. As a matter of fact, he seemed quite somber throughout the whole time he was there.

A day or so later we read about the two fatalities. One of the teens who died had been burned in one of the two accidents.

Thinking back to what the deputy had said, about how at least the parents knew where their kid was, hit home. At least this neighbor kid was in the care of his parents. They knew what he was doing….making noise. There are two teenagers, whose parents didn’t know where their children were, who will be silent forever.

I stopped complaining about the kid. He took up skateboarding again. He makes noise. It may not be a sweet sound to me but I bet it is to his parents.

The neighbor kid continued to play with his garage band. They even raised money to send to a charity.

The Police are not the ones who are ignorant

Posted: April 13, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Annoying things, complaints, Disturbing, harm, Ignorance, Police, The media | Leave a comment »

I came across this post on a blog dealing with illnesses. It’s about a bipolar man who walked out into traffic and was tased twice. He later died. Here is a news article about the incident.

The blogger suggests that the fault lies with the police due to ignorance in dealing with the mentally ill. She suggests that “anyone of us (and I’m assuming she means the mentally ill) could be killed by the police.” She also says that, “mentally ill people are NOT criminals, nor are their family members.”

First off, I take issue with the idea that “anyone of us could be killed by the police.” I have contact with the police on a regular basis and I can tell you, causing the death of any person is the last thing they would ever want to do. It hurts them greatly to have to defend themselves to the point of deadly force. They too, are traumatized by any death that results in the use of deadly force. It’s a tragedy all around. Now do you honestly think the police look forward to the death of someone?

And we will not be killed by the police simply for having a medical condition. It is the circumstances and behavior of the individual that dictates what level of force that is necessary for the police to use. The safety of the innocent bystanders are of primary concern, and yet so is the safety of the individual they are dealing with. The police have a tremendous burden of maintaining the safety of all individuals in any incident.

So the mentally ill never commit crime? Never? That’s not what the mentally ill inmates in prisons say. They can and do commit crime. And their family members don’t commit crime either? Family members don’t interfere with the police when said mentally ill criminals are arrested? I think not.

Many people claim to have mental illnesses, such as bipolar, and use this as an excuse to get away with crime. Would you say this is a misrepresentation of persons with bipolar? The media sensationalizes their acts of crime and blows them out of proportion, just as, with the isolated incidences of the use of the taser to defend innocent people, where death is later reported. Both are wrong, as it gives the impression that it occurs more than it does and most often the truth of the matter goes unreported. That’s the media for you. Don’t believe everything you read.

Just as you would not want us to fear bipolar people because of what we read in the media likewise it would be wrong to perpetuate a fear the police. We need to speak up and look for the truth behind the headlines. Having these false impressions has a direct effect on those we should care about, bipolar people and our police officers. People will act out negatively if they believe they have reason to fear bipolar people and the police. Neither groups of people deserve this.

Let’s get at the truth of the matter…

The police are not ignorant when dealing with people they are sworn to protect. Keeping people alive is what they train for, day and night. It’s why they became police officers, dispatchers, corrections officers.

The police do not kill people. They defend themselves and others against danger. The police will rather take a bullet themselves then let an innocent person die.

The police are not ignorant nor clueless. They are very highly-trained, educated individuals.

The police deserve the right to be in good-standing with the community. They deserve the right to carry out their duties without the public fearing harm from them.

It’s not the police who are ignorant.

Before you complain some more…..

Posted: October 18, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: complaints, Police | Leave a comment »

Recently some folks have been complaining about their local police department saying they don’t do their job and have too nice of a new squad car.

I wonder if the people complaining about their police department have bothered to read the police report on their town’s website. Take a look at the year 2007, there were over 4,100 incidents which averages out to be about 11 incidents per day, 1 every 2 hours, on average mind you, because some days can be more active than others. Take a look at the variety of incidents that occur. It’s not just traffic tickets or checking on vacant properties. Even if you believe everyone in your town couldn‘t possibly break a law, don’t forget that not everyone who strolls through your town behaves themselves. There are some serious criminals traveling through xxxx. Just the presence of the police alone are enough to send these cowardly criminals elsewhere.

Take a look at the training the police go through, especially notice the dive team. Instead of having to wait for services from somewhere else, you now have a dive team ready to respond to water emergencies. This could possibly save you or someone you love. Not something I would think would be worthy of complaining about. They continually go through training in other areas as well to provide the best possible response to their community.

Now lest you think they wear those protective vests for looks, remember we have a fallen officer from our area. He went to one of those calls that some would consider “routine” in the day of an officer. At any time, these officers can be dispatched to a call where they have to defend themselves or others. They face danger every minute they are in uniform and certainly every minute they serve the people of xxxx. These officers can be called upon at anytime to place themselves in danger for you and most likely without a moment’s notice. That’s why they spend hours upon hours training, why money is spent to insure they have the best up-to-date training and equipment (and yes, that includes squad cars).

You may not understand the daily workings of a police department, but rest assured those officers are earning every penny of their paycheck and deserve to have the best equipment to ensure their safety and those they are sworn to protect. We owe it to them to provide them with the very best to do their job.

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