I was talking with a friend of mine, who did not have a good experience with cops and as she was telling me her story all I could think was yeah it sounds like that officer(s) is a total jerk. And although I can see why a police officer would take the stand he did. I don’t think it is right. Furthermore it was not just one officer being extra safe with his life it was 4 officers not looking at the situation, and just treating everyone like a criminal.
Don’t get me wrong, I would rather T-rex look like a jerk and come home than be extra nice to everyone and get himself hurt. But there is balance. And I am sick of hearing stories that make me think cops are just being jerks.
Even more than that I hate the fight this starts with T-rex and I. It is petty but he is unwilling to listen to anything where the LAWs in place are wrong, where the cops should just chill out, and where what he might have done is not something I agree with. I support my husband all the way, but I also know him, and I know he is kind nice and loving and anything less that than, even for the job, can be upsetting.
Still, stay safe guys, but don’t treat the criminals like they are less than human; unless they really are. . . .
2 comments:
I totally know what you mean. It was really really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that my husband and his fellow deputies "rough people up" in jail. But he had to explain that they do it so they will get with the program, and they rarely have to do it twice. But the idea made me cringe a bit.
He came home one of his first weeks at the jail and told me something that made me feel a lot better. "They're all people, and if I give them respect, they tend to give it back. The only difference between us is they made some really bad choices in life." That really stuck with me.
I wasn't going to comment but something you said stuck with me.
*I know he is kind nice and loving...*
He should be reaching out and listening to legitimate criticism of cops, and I do mean LEGITIMATE criticism, not the non-stop irrational bitching he hears from the class of people with whom he has to deal every day. T-rex sounds like a good man, but I can almost guarantee he works with some cops who are on the wrong side of the cell door. Bad cops get their power not from the criminals they bully openly, but from the good cops they intimidate subtlely. Peer pressure. It works. Most cops are truly good people, but it only takes one or two, even in a small department, to ENDANGER THE WHOLE CREW by undermining the public's trust in them.
A show of force is a primitive, but absolutely necessary, way to establish authority over people who live relatively primitive lives. T-rex should be mindful of the force used by his peers, and he should consider the motivations of each individual cop. They don't all share his good character and strong values. Remaining ethical in his field is uphill work.
Ask T-rex how he thinks "Officer Roid-Rage" over in Canton, OH learned he could get away with the totally inappropriate and unprofessional behavior he has displayed in TWO known videos. That didn't happen overnight. Harless didn't evolve into a monster using the silent approval of the powerless peons he has arrested. He did it with the silent approval of his peers - good cops who lacked the objective judgment and/or courage to tell him HE was behaving like a criminal.
I would refer T-rex to writers like
http://beatandrelease.blogspot.com/
He's a (former) good cop who isn't afraid to criticize bad cops.
Sorry for the long and disorganized rant, but I think you and T-rex are BOTH right. I hope he thinks so too.
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