Help stop skyrocketing police killings by voting in midterms

My wife, Gena, and I are sick to our stomach. U.S. police officers are tragically dropping like flies. A shocking 63 men and women in blue have been ambushed this year alone. Nearly 200 have given their lives while serving in the line of duty, according to Officer Down Memorial Page.

Fatal police shootings in 2021 already hit a record high. And 2022 is on track of being the most brutal year to date in the history of law enforcement.

Even ABC News had to recently admit, "Violent week a grim sign as targeted killings of police rise."

ABC reported, "According to organizations that track violence against police, 56 officers have been killed by gunfire this year – 14% more than this time last year and about 45% ahead of 2020's pace."

FOX 7 (Austin) reported that in 2022 there have been 252 officers shot in the line of duty as of Sept. 30, up 5% since the same time last year, according to the Oct. 6 report from National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the country's largest police union.

According to the report, the states with the greatest numbers of officers shot in the line of duty at the time of the report were Texas (24), followed by Arizona (21), Kentucky (16), California (13) and North Carolina (12).

According to the most recent annual data in each country, the U.S. has the seventh-highest total number of police killings in the world, and is the only country listed in the top 10 among the Western industrialized nations:

Philippines – 6,069+ (avg 2016-2021–includes only deaths during anti-drug operations)
Brazil – 5,804 (2019)
Venezuela – 5,287 (2018)
India – 1,731 (2019)
Syria – 1,497 (2019)
El Salvador – 1087 (2017)
United States – 946 (2020)
Nigeria – 841 (2018)
Afghanistan – 606 (2018)
Pakistan – 495 (2017)

In just the last few weeks in the U.S, at least 12 law enforcement officers were shot in cities across the country, leaving at least five of them dead in Nevada, Connecticut, Mississippi and North Carolina.

"We are seeing violence against law enforcement skyrocket," the FOP said Thursday before last. "Since Monday, at least 12 officers have been shot. This must stop!"

Joe Gamaldi, the FOP national vice president, called the police shootings "absolutely abhorrent" and "a stain on our society."

"As a profession, we are disgusted, exhausted, angry, most of all we are hurting," Gamaldi tweeted.

Many cops are fed-up. Proof of that is seen in the number of them switching careers or taking early retirement. Police departments around the country reported a 45% increase in retirement and an 18% increase in resignations last year, according to one national survey.

As a result, law enforcement agencies across the nation are fighting staffing shortages and having a very difficult time recruiting new officers.

To add insult to injury, violent crime is skyrocketing across the country.

Spectrum News 1 (Raleigh, North Carolina) reported, "According to the Council on Criminal Justice, homicides for the first half of 2022 are 39% higher than they were in the same time period of 2019. Crimes of aggravated assault, burglaries and larcenies are also up from this time a year ago."

It's a recipe for national disaster: massive increase in violent crime with fewer officers available to respond.

So, how did we get in this mess? Is there one contributor that stands out above the rest? Yes!

Over the last few years, liberals around the nation demanded that cities "defund the police." Many city councils and law enforcement departments took radical measures, and others moderate measures.

As liberals went on the war path to roll back police influence, they pushed for a woke anti-police ideology. As a result, extensive damage was done to the image of a good cop, and mainstream media didn't help.

The fact is, liberal mainstream media's coverage of several highly publicized police killings, starting in 2014, ignited a fury of anti-police sentiment and further division of Americans politically, socially and racially.

A master's thesis and report from the University of Indiana, "In Black and White: The American Media's Construction of Police Killings," had as its purpose analyzing "how the American media's language contributes to readers' perception of police killings, focusing on patterns of race-related modifiers, passivization and evaluation."

The study concluded: "While news outlets report about sociopolitical events, their reports reproduce those events, contributing to readers' understanding of them and influencing the existence and progression of those events in society – all through language. In this way they are often responsible for (re)producing power dynamics through 'overt support, enactment, representation, legitimation, denial, mitigation or concealment of dominance, among [other practices]'.

"Additionally, the media contributes to stereotypes that facilitate targeted and violent policing. Chaney and Robertson (2014) note that media representations of black men are often negative, usually characterizations of 'studs, super detectives, or imitation White men,' affecting how society views and treats men of color. 'Such characterizations can be so visceral in nature that 'prototypes' of criminal suspects are more likely to be African-American' (483-484; Bryson 1988; Oliver et al. 2004). This means that the construction of blacks in the media contributes to blackness indexing a host of negative qualities in society."

In 2018, another important university study came out discussing the influence of journalism on increased police violence, "Fatal Force: A Conversation with Journalists who Cover Deadly, Highly-Publicized Police Shootings."

The study showed, "The author found that journalists believed they shape the storyline of police shootings through their usage of words, visuals, dependence on official sources, and even the omission of details. … The study also finds the television journalists believe race is a factor in the prominence of a story about police shootings and that Black males are more likely to capture national headlines due to the presence of 'Black Lives Matter' in the coverage."

Why don't you see many of those defund-the-police news stories today on mainstream media? They are not "popular" anymore. They don't raise ratings. And because violent crime against what few police are left has skyrocketed through the roof. Proponents once strongly advocating for defunding the police are now back peddling.

As one New York Times opinion piece put it, "'Defund the Police' Is Dead. Now What?"

It quoted a poll published by the Pew Research Center, which found that support for reducing spending on the police had fallen significantly, from 25% in 2020 to just 15% in 2021. And much further we can only imagine in 2022.

But the damage is already done. Violent crime has spiked everywhere, and now we have too few cops to stop the surge. Businesses and corporations are fleeing cities because of the spike in crime.

Liberal policies and administrations in states like California and New York are not only killing their economies and skyrocketing crime rates but handcuffing law enforcement from doing their jobs. (In California alone, violent crime rate increased by 6.0%, aggravated assaults jumped by 8.9%, and homicides and rape increased by 7.7% and 7.9%, respectively.)

That is one more giant reason why we must elect constitutionally conservative candidates in these next midterm elections (just two weeks away!): to rebolster our law enforcement agencies and stop the outrageous levels of violent crime.

For those who missed my last column, "My top 'Chuck Norris Approved' choices for the midterms," let me list these pro-police, pro-safety candidates here:

I have endorsed Hung Cao, a retired Navy Captain who served in Special Operations for twenty-five years, as the choice for U.S. Congress to represent Virginia's 10th Congressional District.

I have also endorsed our local Texas congressman, Tan Parker, who is running for Texas Senate and is an exceptional leader for the Lone Star State.

Herschel Walker has proven his patriotic grit and love for the stars and stripes to be the "Chuck Norris Approved" U.S. Senate candidate for Georgia.

I also believe Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's also running for U.S. Senate, is the clear choice for Pennsylvania's future.

Blake Masters, U.S. Senate candidate for Arizona, has far better leadership credentials and skills than his political opponent to help all Arizonians.

For governors, I really like Kari Lake, who is running for Gov. of Arizona and clearly the superior candidate for those in that southwest border state.

Brian Dahle is definitely the right man for the job as California's governor and the only one who can stop Gavin Newsom's reign of terror and economic ruin, and reverse the mass exodus of people leaving the Golden State.

Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine, Iowa's Gov. Kim Reynolds, and Ohio's U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance are head and tail above their rivals.

It goes without saying what an incredible job Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida. He is the complete definition of a level 5 leader and should be re-elected without hesitation. He also would make an exceptional presidential candidate, whether now or in the future.

And please save the South and keep it red by reelecting Brian Kemp as governor for Georgia and Greg Abbott as Texas governor.

There are many other great conservative leaders running for office all across the country. That is why I encourage everyone to go to the great website, https://ivoterguide.com, to help you discern who are the constitutionally conservative candidates in your area that will honor and uphold America's founding documents. All you have to do is type in your street address on the front page of the website, and it will scroll up all the local candidates in your region, in addition to providing a literal gauge to inform you if they are conservative or liberal.

If we are to reduce violent crime and reinforce law enforcement agencies and departments from sea to shining sea, we must get out and vote in these midterms. We've also got to reboot the esteemed position of police officers. We need to revalue and reward those who protect us.

Law enforcement is no more to blame for the degrading condition of our country than our great U.S. military servicemen and servicewomen are to blame for the shape of the world. They are our sons and daughters who place themselves in harm's way to protect us here and abroad, and we need to be support and honor them for doing so.

Sidney Sheldon put it well, "My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place – police, firefighters and members of our armed forces."

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