Cops: Operating Under a Misconception.

First, thanks to everybody for their kind comments on the untimely passing of my friend, Victor Arbuzow.  One of his daughters grafted my blog posting to her FaceBook page, so it got wide exposure.  He will be fondly remembered.  I can only hope my passing will be as impactful.  

Now then, back to bizzness...

Okay, so nobody asked me, but I just have to offer my opinion on cops and policing in 2023.  Read it and see if you agree with me...

I believe cops think of themselves as our Centurians, our Defenders of the Freedom.  A paramilitary force, all dressed up like they're ready for battle, dwindling in number and competence, which stands between us and anarchy.  Supposedly.  And not doing a very good job, I might add.  Those who consider themselves our very best and brightest.  And actually believe it...

And then there are those who hired them to take out the trash; the human trash.  That would be us, the taxpayers.  The citizens.  Those of us who've crafted rules and regs for our encampment under which we've all agreed to comport ourselves.  And some people just cannot.  Or will not.  And we need some other folks to corral them, so to speak, and "bring them back within the fold."  

So to speak.

So the cops view themselves as superior to the average citizen for whom they work, and who deny that understanding; and the citizens who love cops when they don't need them, and hate them when they do.  In other words, they hate us and we hate them, but they work for us, and don't acknowledge it.

Remember the phrase they hate: "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

I believe the citizens of our America may well be operating under a misconception.

A serious, serious misconception.

Why?  I think the 97% of our citizenry who are not peace officers would like to believe that the 3% who are, are in fact good, God-fearing, red-blooded, honest and honorable 'Muricans, who live up to the oath they've taken, and would take a bullet for us if necessary.  

We'd like to believe that, but we just can't.

That's because I believe the dreaded pandemic may well have flushed-out most of the good cops, and left the bad ones behind.  

The good ones, the not-yet-corrupt ones who'd only been police officers for a few short years, and could flee without losing much, did.  And the ones with some years under their Sam Brown belts would put in for retirement and move to Florida.  Quickly!  

Who would they be leaving behind?  Perhaps the thugs.  The ones who do "mag dumps" on the poorer of thier citizens when no one is watching.  "Turn that camera off!" 

And the old, un-promotable dummies who couldn't pour piss out of a boot.  The ones with 25 or 30 years on the force, driving the old Crown Vics, trying to earn their keep writing tickets.  Being kept on by the Thin Blue Line.  Who won't speak up because they might be there one day.  And need the wagons to be circled for them if that time comes. 

And the crooks.  The ones with deep connections to the underworld.  And the Blue Mafia.  The cops that will lie like a rug and their partners will swear to it.   The ones who were only a small part of a then-much bigger department pre-pandemic, but are now a very big, big part of a much smaller department.  

Sadly.

And the quasi-psychotics who're in a position finally to beat back on those who preyed upon them when they were fat little kids on the schoolyard.  Enough said.   

And then there are the plain, everyday, hard-working, often heroic cops.  The vast majority of all cops, to be sure.  But outshown by the often immoral, unethical and even illegal actions of their brethern.

The police officers, and the sheriffs' deputies, and the marshals.  And all of those who get up every morning, put on a stiffly-pressed uniform and all the accrourement associated with being a peace officer, strap on their gun and their badge, and head on out.  Perhaps for the last time.  Because that's what it means to be a cop.  To be between us and the Bad Guys.  Today might well be your last day.    Because you are a Spartan!  A Defender of Freedom!  And Peace!  And you will lay down your life for another!  And take one only if absolutely necessary!

Which happened 894 times last year.  Cops killings citizens, that is.

Yes, you are our Tip of the Our Spear.  You hold your head high, cruising around, looking for Bad Guys.  Or, just average, everyday citizens who you can rob out of another week's salary for driving 10 over.  And you just cannot for the life of you figure out why the uber-liberal city councils of our 50 largest and Bluest cities wanted to defund you.  Defund the police, they cried!  And they took $Millons out of your budgets, making it near impossible for you to do your jobs.  Causing deep-seated animosity within their ranks.  And they are pissed!  And anyone with any sense would be as well.

So, 880,000 of our citizens are now patrolling our streets and highways, taking out the trash.  Our Human Trash.  Those of our friends and neighbors in uniform who've signed on to do our dirty work.  A higher level of civil servant than our garbage collectors, mind you, yet a "garbage collector" nonetheless.  A collector of wounded and damaged souls.  Our garbage.  Dangerous souls!  Ones we need to corral for our mutual safety.  Let's not sugarcoat it; they are our First Line of Defense Against the Bad Guys.  And they are by-and-large underpaid for the risks they take.  

And I suggest that those of our youth who grew up "always wanting to be a cop," and chose to be that cop in the Big City where there was better pay and better action than in Small Town America, are now "wanting to be that cop" in Sweet Springs, Arkansas, and Salina, Kansas, and Rifle, Colorado, rather than Chicago, Illinois (eeuuwwww!).  

But that doesn't mean that we are all singing from the same hymn book, and on key!  

Nosirree Bob!  

Think of it this way; police recruits have to undergo 661 hours of training to become a peace officer here in California.  Only.  That's somewhere around 24 weeks, at 40 hours per.  And they get 40 hours of training on the law!  Ya' kidding me!  40 hours?  I've been studying CA law since I've been here, more than 48 years, during which I ran a profitable business for 38 of them, and I'm pretty sure I've undergone more training than that.  Just watching Cops on TV qualifies me by osmosis!

So in addition to just sitting on the sideline and chirping, let me provide my suggestions as to how we can improve this currently intolerable and unworkable situation:

First:  Take off all the Sam Brown belts and the xtra ammo magazines and the tasers and the billy clubs and the five pound flashlights, and the pepper sprays, and put a comfy Columbia fishing shirt over your b.p. vest and return yourself to street policing.  Walk a beat.  Get to know folks.  Get out from under your desks and out of your black-and-whites and patrol your communities.  Reserve heavily armed Spartan-ry for a select force, like SWAT, you could call in when necessary.  Another level between your current "Code 3" and SWAT.  But until then, start being the Beat Cop once again.  The ones we've always known and loved.

Second, stop bleating about being afraid of every noise you hear, like everyone is trying to kill you.   Stop treating like this is just another job with dangers you should dissavow.  "Officer safety," we keep hearing.  "Take your hands out of your pockets."  How about "Citizen safety," for a change?  If you stop acting like you're a target, maybe you'll stop being a target!

Third, give these Road Pirates another couple or three weeks of training on the law. Whatever the cost, the savings in lost law suits has to make up for it.  And maybe, just maybe they'll break fewer laws in the pursuit of commendations and awards.  If these civil servants are empowered to enforce laws they don't even know know about or understand, but are allowed to make up on the spot, we're all screwed.*  

Fourth:  The cops should host community workshops to introduce themselves to Mr. and Mrs. and Mzzz. taxpayer.  And especially to the kids, who are growing up in the inner-cities believing cops are the bad guys and to be feared.  And murdered, if you can get away with it.  If that cycle of hate can be broken, we all win. 

*   Except for the State that is.  The State gets most of that $500 from your speeding ticket.