Officer.com Editor's Blog: Twisted Causes

As I sit here in my office on this Wednesday morning, drinking my coffee, trying to wake up, scrolling through the feed on Facebook and looking through tweets on Twitter, I realized something: no matter how great you feel your cause is, and no matter how great your cause may be, SOME asshat is going to twist it and use it for their own purposes – and end up making the cause look bad in the long run.  The other side of the same coin is that somewhere, someone will speak out about it and, in some cases, lose their job because they had the audacity to speak their mind.  Why?  I guess the First Amendment Freedom of Speech is only accepted when you’re saying what EVERYONE wants to hear?  There’s no such thing.

Look folks, I get it.  Black lives matter.  I understand the message.  Some people feel that police officers target black people more than any other race.  I get it.  Some people feel that police officers are prejudiced more toward black people than any other race. I get it. Some people feel that police officers are cold, heartless, killing machines who are nothing more than pawns of the government. I get it.

It’s all BS – but I get it.

What’s sad is that while calling attention to the value of life in general is a noble cause and the reality is that we should ALL be doing ALL we can to prevent needless killing, some people in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) “movement” have twisted the cause from gaining awareness to seeking unjustified vengeance.  When BLM members/supporters start calling for ambushes on police officers then a crime has occurred.  It’s called “conspiracy.”  When BLM members/supporters start performing crimes against police officers then they SHOULD be arrested (if they survive the encounter) and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Now that I’ve aggravated hell out of some people, let me point this out: The same is true of anyone who is a member of or supports the KKK, White Supremacy, Skin Heads, etc.  If you use your ‘cause’ as a justification for committing a crime, then you should be arrested and prosecuted and sentenced accordingly.  I don’t care WHAT color of skin your ‘cause’ supports, defends, uplifts, etc. I don’t care how targeted you feel your color of skin is.

Police officers take an oath to enforce the law.  We take an oath to support and obey the Constitution – and oh, by the way, that “support” part means PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS even if you’re acting so stupid as to make that a serious test of our professionalism.  Less than 0.01% of police officers disrespect or disobey that oath.  With over 800,000 police professionals in the country today, that means there are (mathematically speaking) 80, spread all across the country somewhere, who won’t do everything exactly right day in and day out for their 20+ year career.  Sometimes that mistake is misreading a RADAR unit. Sometimes that mistake is acting unprofessional to someone.  Sometimes that mistake is losing their temper. And yes, sometimes that mistake is misjudging a situation and using an inappropriate level of force.

Here’s another statement of reality: WE’RE ALL HUMAN and no human being is perfect.

But that last statement applies to EVERYONE – not just law enforcement professionals.  To all those people who think that police officers go out just LOOKING for someone to target I say this: Pull your cranium out of your rectal cavity and see reality.  Police officers DO look for violations of the law. That’s their job.  So if YOU break the law and get caught, don’t blame the police officer.  You want to know who’s at fault? Go look in a mirror.  YOU committed a crime. YOU got caught. YOU got arrested.  Don’t start yelling to anyone who will listen that the police officer unfairly targeted you.  He did his job. He did what he was hired and trained to do. He did what he does day in and day out because that’s what he’s paid to do; trusted to do; trained to do; sworn to do – and should be thanked for doing!

To all you moms and dads who don’t want your children arrested: raise them to respect the law.  Teach them common courtesy.  Show them how to act – and, perhaps more importantly, how NOT to act.  When your child does something stupid and gets arrested, don’t stand in front of a camera and proclaim how sweet and innocent your ‘gangsta’ child was.  If your child has Twitter and Instagram posts with wads of cash, guns, drugs, gang tattoos and his pants down below his butt – he’s NOT a ‘good kid.’  He’s either a real or a wannabe ‘gangsta’ and YOU have failed at your job of parenting.

To the mainstream media I say this: STOP leveraging isolated mistakes in judgment or behavior to increase your ratings and advertising rates.  YOU’RE KILLING OUR COUNTRY.  YOU are the reason people think police professionals are racist and targeting specific minorities.  YOU are the reason society is pandering to criminals. YOU are the reason police officers are being ambushed, attacked, targeted and KILLED.  YOU should be held criminally liable.

To all my brother and sister police officers: continue to do what you’ve always done.  Be professional, be courteous, be helpful, be vigilant, be human.  Protect and serve. Stay alert.  Stay alive!