To my loyal followers: I should have told you in advance that Mourning Dove Hill was going to be on vacation. Anyway, it was, but now I, and it, happily are back.
This is kind of an addendum to the posts on the police (I could have done this as a comment). Recently, in pretty quick succession, our local news here in Chicago has had two or, I think, three stories about policemen being convicted of wrongdoing. In at least two of these cases the police officers in question received probation. That amounts to a mere slap on the wrist, I feel. I believe that courts are far too sympathetic to police and almost excuse their wrongdoing. One reason might be that if a policeman ever received what he deserved for his wrongdoing, the police union would be all up in arms. They claim that punishing any police officer undermines all the others in their doing of their jobs.
I for one am tired of police abusing their power and authority. Even when it is conduct that falls far short of a serious crime, why should they even run red lights (when not responding to a call and without their red-and-blue lights on) or otherwise violate traffic laws? Because they are the law, they are above the law.
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One of my genetic brothers retired after over two decades as a small town city cop. I grew up pretty much only hearing and listening to a cops point of view. One thing that especially stuck with me about it was a brotherhood of police that managed rather quickly to surpass any genetic brotherhood. In no time at all I observed how the words of cops always came first as well as the cops perspectives. What I recall as always being protected and served were the cops and their not always so genuine interests. In my observation cops exist in a mini world that revolves exclusively and explicitly around them. I didn't think my genetic brother or his true and chosen (fellow cop) brothers were especially well educated or adjusted. Cops came across as tempermental, hot-headed, irrational, car racing, baton weilding, and trigger-fingered with little or no regard for the folks they were hired to serve. In my state cops have made the news for things from like all getting it on with some loose woman right inside a police station to scrap metal stealing and rape charges at a juvenile detention center. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house! I was born with an older brother but really don't remember much if at all really having one. Anymore I don't feel I have a big brother in much if in any capacity.
ReplyDeleteTerry, as always, thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear someone else say some of the things that I believe about the police.
I might add that, over and over, there are incidents where the police have shot a suspect--usually a young African-American male--claiming that he had a gun and would have shot them. And the shooting victim's relatives and neighbors, plus the witnesses, who should be less biased, testify that the shooting victim had no gun.
So yes, I agree with "trigger happy," and in my mind I have often called the police sadistic thugs.
Of course there are good police officers as well as bad. I don't know how many are in each category.
On a more constructive note, I once wrote a letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times in which I suggested that greater psychological testing of prospective police officers was in order, to screen out those who might have hostile, violent, or sadistic tendencies.