Cops

I made the mistake of reading some of the commentary about the Zimmerman case and the associated panel to review our gun laws on arfcom.

Several cops have their panties in a bunch about an accurate history of why "Stand Your Ground" was passed.  Officer, it is not anti-cop to note that the situation really was, "arrest and let the courts sort it out," for self-defence cases.  It's not anti-cop even if someone who's noted for being anti-police says it.

Officer, did you ever consider the process that someone might become anti-police?  Did you consider that virtually nobody wakes up one morning and says, "from this day hence I shall despise the constabulary!"

Most anyone who has a problem with the police where it isn't just a general distrust of authority in general, has an incident that triggered a perspective change in how they viewed the police.  Did you ever consider, Officer, that the experience of this person was real and valid?

Nope.  You dismiss their position because YOU don't behave that way.  YOUR department doesn't do that.

In the case of the situation that lead to SYG, so what?  OK, your department didn't make murder arrests for self defense.  That makes you a minority here in Florida.  The problem was most jurisdictions were making such arrests.  It means that such a law was needed and means your anecdotal experience with your own department meaningless in the larger scheme of things.

I will admit I trend to an anti-police position.  Unlike a lot of people I cannot shake the awareness that Officer Friendly is also Officer Member-Of-The-Human-Race.  They get a lot of power and get a lot of exemptions from the laws they enforce, humans do not in general respond to such in a noble way.  Yes there are exceptions, but the safe way to bet is to look for abuse not restraint.

My anti-cop position is aided by the erosion of respect by bad law and bad lawmakers.  It's eroded by watching cops become armed revenue agents rather than genuine law enforcement.  It's eroded by calling the police about someone clearly breaking the law and being told that since they didn't witness it happening, there was nothing they can do about it.

Officer, if you serve no useful purpose to me, why should I support paying for your "services"?

In my experience there are damned few cops that live up to the noble standards we'd like to see in all.  Perhaps the job grinds them down.  Perhaps I no longer care how bad cops get the way they are when I can watch the "good" cops cover for them.