The Thin Blue Line Is Getting Thinner
The Thin Blue Line is a symbol for Americas Law Enforcement
Agencies around the County. It represents the few people that can go through a strenuous
academy, go out and serve a community that hates you for the badge you wear and
not the person they have become. They serve the community with pride and integrity.
At the end of the day they lay their lives on the line serving the community
with great pride hoping to make a change in someone’s life and still come home
safely to their family.
I am not going to be blind or ignorant there are a few bad
officers but there are many more good officers that make good judgment calls in
a split of a second. Those officers trying to make a difference are the ones
that are losing morale in departments across the Nation. This new generation of
violence against any kind of law enforcement/citizens has a lot to do with technology.
For example, police racial profiling has
been around since even when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for equal
rights. Racial profiling affects a wide array of communities of color. More
than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legalized racial segregation have led
to systemic profiling of blacks in traffic and pedestrian stops. Since
September 11, 2001, members of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities have
been profiled by airline personnel, federal law enforcement, and local police.
The only reason it was not documented as much is because of technology.
Nowadays everyone has a camera phone, any kind of police contact and people are
quick to draw their phone and hope to get a viral video on Facebook, YouTube, twitter,
or any other social media network for their 15 minutes of fame. There have been occasions where the recordings
of certain events that have occurred has helped the officer justify the actions
that they have taken. Say for instance the recent shooting at Georgia Tech in
Atlanta with 21-year-old Scout Schultz, officers gave commands to the student
to drop the knife he had in his hand he failed to comply. Most departments
require an officer to use lethal force if the officer thinks they are in a life
threating situation. The student kept advancing towards the officer and they
had no choice but to shoot the suspect. People will say well why didn’t they
use a tazer or pepper spray. I can say that I have witnessed that a tazer or
pepper do not always work. For the tazer to work both electrical prongs need to
be making contact on the subject’s body or else there will be no effect. Pepper
spray also does not always work, you either aggravate the subject more or the
spray has no effect due to being under the influence drugs or just from the adrenalin rush. Then
soon after the shooting protestors took to the streets in protest. The protest
turned violent and even set a police unit on fire by tossing a flare into it.
Two officers also became injured in the riot. Officer were alerted that Scout
Shultz was walking with a gun and a knife in his hand. Campus officers made
contact with Shultz in order to protect the public, they did their job and
protected the public and what do they get in return, a riot.
Let's talk mechanics first, JR. You need to use paragraphs! You change topics several times throughout this entry; when that happens, you need to change paragraphs. It results in a VERY confusing read when you don't. For example, you talk about how most cops are good and then in the very same paragraph you talk about how cops racial profile people (not good). When you don't change paragraphs or adding headings for different sections, you come across as wishy washy.
ReplyDeleteAs to the specifics of the incident in question, perhaps the very title of your entry will give you insight into why people don't trust cops (I for one agree with your position). There is this perception that The Thin Blue Line also protects very BAD cops; if that's the case, doesn't that make the good ones also complicit in bad behavior? Something to think about.