I have a question for you: If a relative, friend, in-law or neighbor made it blatantly clear that you were not welcome somewhere, and took aggressive steps to make their point, including physical manifestations of their displeasure with your presence, how many times would you make a special effort to visit that place?
I know this may be hard for some to believe, but police officers are human beings. They have been hired to do a job that is, generally speaking, not popular (on occasion) with some people. That job is, essentially, seeing that “we the people” (all) do that which is right and proper as it regards the safety of the public at large. Our reactions, however, apparently differ depending on what aspect of the officer’s job impacts us.
If a thief or mass murderer is apprehended, officers of the law are applauded and congratulated. However, if they “infringe on my personal liberties” (i.e. speeding tickets, improper behavior, trespassing, cursing in public places or beating up a “deserving” spouse), they are “out of line.”
Don’t we recruit, train and dispatch officers of the law for the safety, protection and security of the community? Haven’t we passed laws that apply equally to all for the benefit of all? What is the generally accepted definition of “criminal behavior”? Are not jails and prisons instituted as protection from those who choose not to adhere to the laws of the land? And aren’t the police officers, who are not draftees but volunteers, empowered by us to enforce said laws?
Today, a city about 40 miles from the capital of the United States of America has recently established a historically significant record. According to several reports, murders in Baltimore, Maryland, over Memorial Day weekend 2015 have made it the deadliest month in the city since 1999. Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, a local pastor and community activist, told the Washington Post earlier this month: “In any other community, these numbers would be jaw-dropping.”
Apparently, since no white police officers were involved, the story failed to make national news.
In a WND column several weeks back, I suggested a simple one-step solution that would instantly and permanently eliminate charges of “racism” in local law enforcement departments, terminate charges of “racial harassment” by police, stop black teens from being killed by “racist white cops,” end charges of “police brutality” articulated by “civil rights leaders” and pastors, prevent police (black or white) having rocks and Molotov cocktails hurled at them and eliminate all marches and protests against “racist” white officers. My solution?No more white cops responding to distress calls in ‘da hood no-go zones.
Recent news reports indicate such is being implemented, except now black and white cops are both reacting in that fashion. They could be restrained by the thought of mobs (calling themselves “protesters”) and possibly being persecuted by their superiors if they fail to meet the “fair standards” set out by such as Rev. Al Sharpton, the Baltimore mayor and the state’s attorney for Baltimore city. (Apparently, my suggestion was more than “idle pontification from someone who has no idea what they are talking about.”)
According to Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, “Police are struggling to stop violence in west Baltimore.”
However, it turns out that police officers trying to do their jobs there today are being surrounded by people armed with video cameras and displaying hostile attitudes, as indicated by this report from the Associated Press:
In Baltimore, “[A]rrests have plunged. … Arrests were already declining before Freddie Gray died on April 19 of injuries he suffered in police custody, but they dropped sharply thereafter, as his death unleashed protests, riots, and the criminal indictment of six officers and a full-on civil rights investigation by the U.S. Justice Department that has officers working under close scrutiny. …
“‘It’s so bad, people are afraid to let their kids outside,’ [Antoinette] Perrine said. ‘People wake up with shots through their windows. Police used to sit on every corner, on the top of the block. These days? They’re nowhere.’
“West Baltimore residents worry they’ve been abandoned by the officers they once accused of harassing them, leaving some neighborhoods like the Wild West without a lawman around.
“‘I see people walking with guns almost every single day, because they know the police aren’t pulling them up like they used to.’
“Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said his officers ‘are not holding back,’ despite encountering dangerous hostility in the Western District.
“‘Our officers tell me that when officers pull up, they have 30 to 50 people surrounding them at any time,’ Batts said.”
Could we be seeing the real-time implementation of the aforementioned “no-go zones”?
Final question: What would you do if every time you showed up to do your job, 30-50 angry, hostile people surrounded you, and your boss threatened you with punishment if you did what you had been hired to do?
Media wishing to interview Ben Kinchlow, please contact [email protected].
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