I agree there is a growing epidemic of violence in this country. But if you look at the statistics it is not the cops that are committing the vast majority of the violence. They are REACTING to the violence. They are trying to quell the violence and bring justice to the victims.
And I agree that the entire society needs to look at the issues/causes. But in my opinion, it has less to do with the justice system and more to do with the failing family structure and the absence of respect for authority and tradition and family support/structure. We have a huge wave of young kids who kill each other and others over 10 dollar bags of weed. It is beyond ridiculous. 14 and 15 yr olds carrying weapons and doing armed robberies. I do not blame the justice system for this. I blame the parents. Or lack of.
As for the cops usually being found justified, OF COURSE they are. They are usually given the benefit of the doubt. They are not out roaming around looking to kill someone. Imo, they are forced into these shootouts because they are DOING THEIR JOBS. So juries are rarely going to find them guilty for defending themselves under these circumstances.
Cops do not want to have physical altercations. Who wants to dodge bullets or be hit in the head with shovels? It is the worst part of the job. My son is awaiting the birth of his first child. I really wanted to buy them baby clothes and a rocking chair for Christmas. But my son had a serious request. He and his wife wanted our help so he could upgrade his kevlar vest from the basic commissioned one to one that prevents automatic weapon gunfire intrusion. He needed 800 bucks for the upgrade. So instead of buying baby clothes we helped them buy a new bullet proof vest.
Prayers for your son. I hope he remains safe.
I see so many who seem to blame the police officer for the wrongdoings of the ones they are having to deal with. I truly don't understand it. Another thing I have never understood is why do all of these people refuse to comply to the officer's requests? Where has all of this disrespect come from? That seems to be the one common factor in so many of these cases. Instead of doing as the officer asked them to do, and usually the officer at the time is firm, but respectful they still want to be confrontational. There is nothing hard about doing as a police officer asks but yet time and time again many just will not do it. It has to be a disrespect for any authority figure. Why are so many wanting to be confrontational now more than ever it seems?
I believe there are over 800 thousand police officers in our nation, perhaps more, yet even in the worst of times most officers show great restraint even when they have been assaulted, and they are many thousands of times a year.
FBI: 76 Law Enforcement Officers Killed in Line of Duty Last Year; 49,851 Assaulted
The FBI says assailants used personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) in 79.8 percent of the incidents; firearms in 4.5 percent of incidents; and knives or other cutting instruments in 1.8 percent of the incidents. (Other weapons were used in 13.9 percent of assaults.)
The report does not provide a racial breakdown of the assaulted officers or of the known suspects.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...rs-killed-line-duty-last-year-49851-assaulted
It shows who the majority of aggressors really are and it isn't the majority of our police officers. Of course like in any other profession there are always some bad ones mixed in with the majority of good ones. Imo, all police officers in our nation are way too often painted with the same wide brush as if they are all bad, when in truth most are good dedicated honorable officers who have a very dangerous job to do. I cant think of any other profession held here in the states in which they are assaulted on the job almost 50K times in one year.
Another thing that often puzzles me is the average citizen has a constitutional right to defend themselves when being attacked. In this state in this case the law says there is no duty to retreat. Yet so many do not think the very ones who actually put their lives on the line everyday have those same rights. That just doesn't make sense since it is our police officers are the ones who truly have to deal with the criminals everyday.
What needs to stop are the assaults upon police officers who are only trying to perform their job duties. They are being assaulted or worse when serving warrants, coming to the aid in a domestic violence situation, or in simple traffic stops or just sitting there in their cop car bothering no one.
The few bad ones mixed in with the very dedicated officers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law but all the multiple thousands of other officers we have should be totally supported. They are the ones taking the bad guys/women off the streets when millions of crimes are committed each year. They are the ones who have the courage to go down in crime ridden infested areas to investigate multiple homicides that happen each year. They are the ones who have to see another innocent child who has been murdered by drive by shootings. They see the devastation lawlessness causes and it affects them just like anyone else. They are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and grandparents themselves. They feel hurt and pain just like we all feel the overwhelming sadness when violence has taken another life.
The SWAT team officers in GA who could not save the little two year old boy from being murdered by his father..sobbed uncontrollably when it happened.
All this man had to do is do as the officer asked. He was the one who had no right whatsoever to attack this officer who was very calm and respectful when talking with him.
IMO
