The Story of Officer Joe - Police Brutality or Victim of Societal Views?

Stepping up to the late model sedan, Officer Joe laughed to himself. The car that he pulled over was exactly like the one that his wife drove, and he could not help but see the humor. He had spent the last 20 years with the department and was looking forward to retirement with that beautiful wife and mother. He also was looking forward to getting to know his kids better not to mention his grandkids. How was it possible that he had six grandkids? He was only 18 five minutes ago it seemed.

Clearing his mind, he noticed that the tags were out of date and made a mental note to warn the driver to get it updated. Walking up to the car, he knocked on the driver's side window and asked to see a liscense and registration.

The driver lets the window down, pulls a gun and blows Officer Joe clear into traffic.

Officer Joe dies on that sad night there on that cold highway. He is run over by a car as his lifeless body is hurled into the lanes of traffic. His wife loses a husband, his kids a Dad, and his Grandkids a hero.

I apologize for my fictional story being so brutal, but it is very tame compared to the many murders of police officers across our Country every year. I wrote it to prove a point.

Many people consider police officers to be crooked, abusive, and power hungry. I have news for those people. They are right....sometimes. Every group of people have good and bad. It makes no matter how many or how few. There are always examples of poor humanity within a demographic. So, when those chosen few come online and say that the police are this or that, they are showing their true character. Consider the following:

Officer Joe's family comes across this drivel on the internet and hears people making horrible comments about policemen, with no regard to their Dad, Grandather, or Husband. How do they feel? Do they not feel exactly the same way that any other group that is generalized might feel? Of course they do. Yet people continue to bash cops with the same broad strokes as always. I am talking to you Al Sharpton, among others.

We handcuff our officers, yet we are quick to blame them when crime is high. If officers let dopers push drugs on the street corners, then the cops are not doing their jobs. If they pursue these dopers, then they are accused of profiling. Of course they profile. If it acts like a drug dealer, and is in a drug infested area, and drugs are known to be pushed there, then anyone would be an idiot to ignore the possilbility. If that person happens to be a minority or a white man, the profile should be the same.

From a civilian's point of view, I am going to tell you right now that I am going to be careful with my Family. If I am walking down the street, and I come across a man of any race that is thugged out, and is walking like he is living the gang lifestyle, my Family is going to be taken elsewhere. If that makes me a profiler, then label me proudly. I have read of far to many muggings, murders, and rapes to ignore potential trouble. That is simply common sense and it has nothing to do with color.

With civilians being forced to make these decisions daily, imagine how tough the decisions are for a cop. They have a target on their head every single day of their life. These officers make a pitiful wage for the work they do. They put their life on the line all the time. Many have watched their partners and other officers die in a hail of gunfire, while others have taken bullets themselves. This gives them some rights in my mind to be allowed reasonable judgement. If they feel their life is on the line, then they should react accordingly. It is a burden that many officers carry with a lump in their throat. Mistakes are made, and abuse does exist of the system.

Whites have good and bad.

Blacks have good and bad.

And the list goes on...

Police have good and bad.

For me, that does not diminish the greatness of Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., or any other great leader of any race or humankind. To say that blacks are bad because there are some bad apples out there is ludicrous. To say that whites are bad because the KKK exists is just as stupid.

To say Officer Joe is bad just because a few cops choose the wrong way is utterly inhumane.

I say God Bless our police officers out there trying to do the right things for our Country. Many of us are proud of the jobs you do on the whole, and recognize the difficulties in making perfect decisions while staring down death. If these people that decide that all police officers are crooked based only on a few cases were to sit down and look at the numbers of YOUR ranks that are lost in comparison, then maybe they would see the hypocritcal views they have.