I am amazed at the flack police get whenever they have to
resort to deadly force.
Now, with every TV news department having a facebook page,
anyone can be a commentator. “He should have used his tazer.” “He should have
shot him in the leg.” “He could have subdued him.” Yada, yada, yada.
And, TV dramas leave the impression that the police can talk
down anyone with a gun in his hand. The public is so dumb they can’t
distinguish TV drama from reality. An actor gets to come back next week to battle
the forces of evil. A cop may only have one chance to save himself and any
public that may be in danger from some deranged person.
The very same people that call the police when some
situation may have gotten out of hand generally seem to be the first to turn on
the police if deadly force is used to defuse the situation.
It’s easy to quarter back a situation from the comfort of
our home and on the testimony of some witness. How many innocent persons are
now in prison because some witness testified that he saw a defendant commit a
crime?
I personally don’t get emotional because I wasn’t there and
witnesses are notoriously wrong most of the time. What is totally lacking in
our times is a dose of skepticism. We have a news media giving too much
credence to witnesses and a rush to judgment before all the facts are in.
We have all kinds of counseling for the victims. But, what
about the cop? Will he be able to walk away alive the next time he finds
himself in the same situation?
