I'm terribly, horridly tired of hearing about the 'tragedy' of the killing of police officers. The
deaths of cops isn't a tragedy anymore than the death of our local sanitation engineers or the death of a 90 year old man
- in fact, the death of a police officer should be expected just as much as the death of a violent criminal should be expected.
This whining and moaning about the 'tragedies' of cop killings is absolutely ridiculous - especially when it's the officer's
family whining and moaning. Your family memeber was a police officer and carried a gun to work every single day and
they knew what their line of work entailed. I can't think of a class of person I would expect to be shot more than police
officers. I can think of a few who, in my opinion, should be shot more, but I don't always get what I want.
Police officers are not forced into their occupations. Cops choose to be cops, they make a conscious
decision and spend quite a bit of money to get into this line of work. But they're not forced to remain cops if they had some
misguided notion about the job. Now more than ever police officers are not in a 'dead end' job. Most police departments nowdays
reimburse or subsidize University classes, regardless of the officer's intended major - be it criminal justice or not. So
the "A cop is always a cop because they job training is so specific" excuse is no longer valid. Get off your ass and go to
school, Mr. Officer, if you don't like your job.
Police are public servants. Read that again. Now analyze it - public servants - servants of the greater
public. How do cops fit into the structure of our legal system? They enforce the laws made by our legislators. They are not
there to "teach teenagers a lesson about driving." They are not there to "keep sports car owners in line" or "bring the rich
down from their pedestals." (There are 'bonuses' about being a cop I've heard and read.) Most cops (yes, a generalization
- not all cops, just most cops) are insecure, unstable men with extreme penis-envy issues, hence the guns. Many cops come
from lower-income families with less-than-dysfunctional environments. What better way to recover from being ignored or degraded
by your parents than being an authority figure. What an unfortunate circumstance fo the public to have such a large number
of lacking servants.
This would be easy to say for someone who didn't have personal ties to a police officer or police officers
that worked in a dangerous jurisdiction, however, I do. My brother-in-law works in possibly the most dangerous jurisdiction
in Utah - South Salt Lake City - and he's easily my favorite relative. I took care of his daughter for two years while living
in his house, so we have a very close relationship. His younger brother is a detective in the same police department. His
older brother quickly found out that he didn't like to work in 'busy' jurisdictions like that and is currently employed in
a very small town that is more his speed. Would I like to see any of them killed? Absolutely not. Would I be surprised or
shocked if any of them were shot? Absolutely not. They are police officers and they understand the dangers of their occupations.
I let them make their conscious decisions, but I remember that they are their decisions and I know from remembering that,
that they are not thrown into situations without forethought.
