Hold True To The Blue

A young man in Minnesota was stopped by police for an expired license plate tag.  Calling in the plate, the officers at the scene were advised that the driver had an outstanding felony warrant.  While attempting then to arrest the young man because of the warrant, he resisted, and got back into his car as if to drive off.  As a veteran officer attempted to taser him to obtain his compliance, in the heat, intensity, and confusion of that instant, she pulled her gun by mistake and shot, rather than tasered, the individual.  The driver pulled away and soon perished.  Clearly, with video and audio back-up, this was strictly an unfortunate accident.  An accident precipitated by the actions, past and present, of the young man.  Now, again, all heck has broken loose in the Minneapolis area.  Not with legally permitted protests.  But with destructive riots.  Several nights worth.  And also in cities beyond Minnesota, attracting organized thug groups, as has become generally the case. Leaving local police officers, perhaps backed up by some National Guard soldiers, to deal with the mayhem.

Following the earlier, alleged-by-the-trial-charges, murder of a minority gentleman at the hands, more specifically, potentially at the knee, of a white police officer, calls went out through the land to “defund” the police, made by those who see all police as “racist,” and the entirety of America as evil and in need of transformation. The latter apparently best achieved by burning our cities to the ground.  With this latest killing of a young, but not entirely innocent minority man, again the result of a completely regrettably accident, the shrill calls ring out, once again, to not only “defund” but to get rid of our police forces altogether. As with the claim that America is evil, calls to eliminate our police are absurd, perhaps insane, in that there is no realistic alternative, as long as there are uncivil, bad people in our society, and there are.

And another thing, do note that those in politics or entertainment professions who champion police “defunding” the loudest, most generally live in gated, protected communities, and more often than not are further protected by government-provided or private armed security. These folks are definitely not living out amidst multi-family affordable rental housing.  In fact, the people, in those neighborhoods, are calling for more, not less, police presence, because they see and experience the growing crime problem up close.

Representative Rashida Tlaib, the Democrat Congresswoman from the Detroit area in Michigan, reportedly tweeted in response to the Minnesota shooting that: “Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist” and, as such, there must be an end to “policing, incarceration, and militarization.”  Well, first, there is no proof that either our police forces or our nation are “intentionally (“systematically”) racist. That has simply become the battle cry of those inherently unhappy with America, those who really should be living elsewhere, in another nation more to their perceived liking, if they could ever man-up and match their actions with their disparaging words. Secondly, there is no reasonable, responsible alternative to municipally-appointed-and-sanctioned trained, licensed and armed, individuals, hired and duty-bound to protect the lives and property of law-abiding citizens and their families.  The vast, vast majority of law enforcement officers in our country are fine, upstanding, dedicated, and courageous men and women, devoted to their oath, each day, to ‘serve and protect’ their community.

And lastly, you noted from her statement of things she claims we do not need in our country: “incarceration”! Now that one really hit the totally off-plumb hot button.  No prisons for criminals? Absurd to the tenth-power and beyond.  Is she thinking that, with no prisons, then everyone would just automatically start to behave?  Realistically, just the opposite. Even China, Russia, and other totalitarian sweet-spots have prisons, and from all that we hear, not very nice ones.  When politicians, from either party, speak and act like this, its good to remind ourselves that a large share of those back home actually elected them.

And speaking of trying to politically invent sensitive and oh, so, politically correct ways to get along just fine without our police officers, try this one from Portland, now perhaps known best for its continuing strife in the streets.  The mayor and city council there have reportedly just agreed to (rather than hire more police) spend $6-million on funding for community groups and…please put down any hot liquid…to fund the hiring of 24 park rangers, who will be unarmed (except for pepper spray and a radio)!  This would be cartoonish, if it wasn’t so serious.  Responded the president of the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police: “Park rangers aren’t going to have an impact.  That’s not what they’re trained for, that’s not what they’re hired for, that’s not what they signed up for.  They don’t even have ballistic vests for protection.”  Meanwhile, the Portland Police Department budget was cut by $27-million, and between eliminated positions and voluntary departures, the department is said to now have a little over 800 remaining officers in a force that was budgeted last year for 1,000 uniformed members.  So, once again, in theory, social workers, mental health professionals, ministers, and now park rangers are teaming up to tame crime in Portland, as police officers continue to leave.  It is just amazing what fantasy cures for society’s ills today’s Progressive Socialist Marxists can dream up.  Remind us again, what (or who) exactly is the real evil plaguing American society?

Outdoing Portland, New York City, one of the original bellowing for police “defunding” sites, not surprisingly has a continuing crime problem.  The reported blue-ribbon solution, per the mayor’s wife, is for neighbors to get involved in disputes.  Said she, reportedly, in part: “…we’re asking New Yorkers to show up for their neighbors and intervene when witnessing hateful violence or harassment.  I know that can be frightening when you aren’t sure what to do or say, but you can learn.” She then urges citizens “to take…training to learn safe ways to intervene as a bystander when a fellow New Yorker is being harassed.”  Reality: Ain’t nobody gonna take kindly to some outsider stepping into a “violent or harassment” situation, unless that noble citizen is 7-feet tall, 350-pounds, wearing a head-to-toe medieval suite of armor and carrying an axe.

Meanwhile, some of our large cities are reacting smartly to increases in serious crime, by moves to reverse “defunding” in the interest of increased citizen protection and safety. Atlanta’s mayor reportedly has plans to hire 250 additional police officers, following 2020’s 58% increase in homicides.  And Los Angeles will be adding $36-million to three area law enforcement agencies.  The Los Angeles Police Chief “lamented in January a more than eight-fold rise in shootings, from 59 in the first two-weeks of 2021, compared with just 7 at the same time last year.”

In her New York Post column this week, Miranda Devine posed the question: “Why would anyone want to be a cop with the way they’re being treated?” Wrote Ms. Devine: “It’s open season on anyone who wears a badge, so no wonder recruitment is down, retirements are up, and the streets grow ever more violent.  By swallowing the false narrative of systemic racism, we have demonized and criminalized police, while turning criminals into civil-rights martyrs.  This won’t end well.”  As she points out in her article, up until early this month (April), 52 minorities were shot by police (only 3 were unarmed) so far this year, while 109 whites were shot by police (only 5 were unarmed).  By that recent three-month+ comparison, the notion that police are only shooting minorities is erroneous.  And the question that always must be asked: who or what led to the need for a police shooting response in the first place?

There are currently somewhere in the neighborhood of 800,000 sworn police officers serving America’s communities.  The vast majority are being tainted in recent days and months by the alleged actions of a minuscule few. The vast majority of our officers are honorable, dedicated, non-racist fellow citizens doing their best each day to keep us safe.  We are blessed to have so many officers willing to step forward to serve, in a profession that can be rewarding, but too often may seem thankless, especially with the current barrage of slings and arrows from people far removed from the reality of police demands and expectations.  Ride with an officer once and experience what they see from the other side of life.  And realize that our police officers are in a profession where there exists at least a greater than normal chance that they may not return home to their family again on any given night. Heartfelt thanks to our law enforcement officers who so selflessly serve our cities and towns. May they continue to do so with justifiable pride in the help they constantly and professionally provide to keep their fellow citizens free from harm.  Police officers, like those who serve the nation in our military, are among America’s greatest blessings.  May they continue to remain safe and strong, as we American patriots continue to support, praise, and otherwise do our very best, to hold true to the Blue.

(Tlaib quote via breitbart.com, Kyle Morris, 4-12-21; Park rangers coming to Portland quote via foxnews.com, Dan Springer, 4-9-21; NYC mayor’s wife advice quote via americanthinker.com, Monica Showalter, 3-9-21; Atlanta’s planned police increase stats via breitbart.com, Wendell Husebo, 3-31-21; Los Angeles police funding increase stats & quote via nypost.com, Kerry J. Byrne, 3-27-21; Devine column stats & quotes via nypost.com, Miranda Devine, 4-14-21).