A friend of mine is a police officer, though this is not well-known, even in his family, for their own protection. He wrote an insightful note to me yesterday, i want to share a few highlights:
i just watched your video "The solution to Police..." I typically don't watch social media posts about policing these days because it's just too easy for many to comment without any committment to the subject matter. I do respect your views though so i was curious.
I just want to respectfully share my opinion.
I have been in law enforcement for over 20 years and my view is that police are servants of the community, protectors, who put more on the line for others on a daily basis than any religion, charity, profession, non profit organization, etc. police go to work everyday go to work every day faced with the consequences of failures in society. Criminology identifies many cause / contributing factors in why people commit crime, none of which begin with the justice system. I have had experiences with those who committed crimes who faced alcoholism, drug addiction, child abuse, poverty, lack of or poor parenting, mental disorders, desperation, as well as less severe contributing factors such as a sense of unfairness, inequality, crime of opportunity, and poor judgment. Please Watch this video.
Now imagine if your family was home alone during an armed robbery of your home. Imagine their fear. Imagine receiving the call from a terrified person who cant (physically or out of fear) protect themselves...or their children, and facing with the worst day in their life. How would you respond if a family member called you telling you someone was in your house, had a gun to their head. You race down the street and see someone matching the description a few houses away. Its ironic that the outspoken social media vows to commit violence against a child molester but condemns the actions of a police officer who shoots a suspect that, 10 seconds later, would have killed the officer glorifying the person with a long history of violence in the middle of a violent crime.
Even though police are held to a higher standard in society and, although fallible, they maintain their professionalism, follow strict rules and guidelines, know they will be condemned regardless if their actions are righteous all while in a fight for their life. It is now more than a double standard. It is the onset of a lawless society.
Most have no idea what is involved with policing. I have watched hundreds of hours of HGTV yet every home renovation project i take on involves an injury. Why is it the society can watch a 10 second news clip and have all of the answers for police?
Although i am behind a desk now, there were plenty of times i had to leave my house in the middle of the night, my babies and my wife sleeping, and rush into a situation most people run from, most people consider their worst day, outnumbered, into a high risk, mostly unknown situation.
I've been to more funerals than i can count for peers involved in similar situations. I have had my life and my family's life, threatened several times...once by someone with PTSD from Viet Nam, once by a schizophrenic person who, after i handcuffed him, told me he was 30 minutes away from killing his ex-wife and that had i turned my back on him, would have used the sawed-off shotgun i found under his car seat to blow my head off and leave me dead on the side of the road.
I listened to radio calls of my long time partner being choked by one guy while being kicked by another and attempting to get his gun. I couldn't drive fast enough.
I've listened to radio calls of a co-worker unsuccessfully giving CPR to another co-worker. I have had the long end of shift rides shaking because of how close i was to not making it home.
Please also watch this video. Even though a training scenario in no way provides the full experience of a real scenario, it is enough to completely change the perspective of a very strong willed, anti police person.
I want to close with a couple of comments. As in most social media, the brief glimpse i provided will most likely not provide the entire perspective i have experienced nor make a very strong impact on your views. It is a very difficult task and i didn't expect it to. I do hope that, as in your experience with the police, you can see multiple viewpoints besides the personal impact; the views of the victims, the views of the police. I also want to say that in no way do i want this to come across in an adversarial manner. Since i have a connection with you, i felt safe to engage in a friendly dialogue on a relevant and serious topic. I certainly respect your viewpoint as it provides a different perspective.