I dish a lotta craps to cops. Bad ones. Ones that revel in the Police Vs. Little People. That act like there is a big difference between them and dirty 'civilians'. Like they are an occupying army. Cops that routinely shoot the dog on search warrants. That love to go all SWAT and who cares if they get the wrong house. That like nothing more than to jack up an CCW guy on a traffic stop on a highway in Ohio.
I don't want cops assassinated.
It's an old saw that folks want to have more Sheriff Andy Taylor, and less SWAT, as far as TV portrayals go.
It's more complicated than that.
I wish I saved the link, the one that inspired this line of thinking.
Yes, Andy Griffith's Sheriff portrayal was nice. Preferable. But remember, Andy was a Sheriff. Accountable to the people. He was Justice of the Peace, too. Another elected position, prolly. That's why he did as he did. Leave his gun belt in the closet except in the most extreme of situations. And Deputy Barney Fife was a good man, too. A bit of a pip squeak. Enamored with the accouterment. Of the authority. But Andy rode herd on Barney. Kept him on the path. Only one bullet, and that in his shirt pocket most of the time.
What we have now, is a nation of Barneys. Oh, not necessarily the clownishness that Barney was. But, what if there was no Andy and Barney was in charge? He's carry all six bullets, then you think? And in the cylinder. And be overly aggressive enforcing the laws. Because he wasn't lead. He wouldn't have Andy's moderating influence.
When a cops goes wrong he needs to be punished. Long suspension without pay. Egregious acts of repeat offenses, THEN we should think about prosecutions. But initial wrong must be dealt with. Responsibility. But what needs to be dealt with MORE severely is the leadership. They have much greater responsibility. The ones that permitted the troops maintain an Us against Them culture. Where cops play soldiers. The modern day Andy needs to 'nip that in the bud'. Who are the 'Andys' of today? A group that tries to insulate themselves from their responsibility. We need to push it back down on their shoulders at the lowest possible level. On the elected officials that are or can be the most responsive. Mayors. Police Chiefs. Alderman. Councilmen. A few of them need to be ruined when cops make the wrong, unjustifiable, search warrant raid and throw a flashbang in a baby's crib. They sent the cops there. Suspend the patrolmen, fire the bosses and sue them into the poorhouse. That is the proper actions us Civilians should take. Eventually the lesson will be learned. And the beat cops will be encouraged from on high to be cops, not soldiers.
Be mad at the dog handler, not so much the attack dog, I mean. A trainer can have a dog that grabs a wrist and hold on, or grabs a throat and rips it out.
Uh, first of all, "Andy Taylor" was made up. That was a TV show. Police were never like that, nor are actual communities anything like Mayberry on that show. In real communities, real criminals commit real crimes and they need to met with real force for the protection of everyone else, hence the need for real cops in America. But hey--if you can do it better, police departments are always hiring and I'm sure that they'd love you to join up and show them how to handle business without a sidearm or any use of force the next time some gorilla beats his wife into the hospital or a couple of punks car-jack someone and drive past you with that stolen car.
ReplyDeleteNo no no. That the wrong comment you put up there. You were supposed to put up, "FINALLY you come around to the right way of thinking about the problem"
ReplyDelete60 years ago in small towns away from the big cities you could have a Sheriff Andy type cop. Serious crime was rare. People left their houses and cars unlocked.
ReplyDeleteSad to say those days are long gone. Violent crime is everywhere. A lot of people are disrespectful to just about everyone.
The police are the same as most people. Most want to serve their community. However, some lose their way. In a lot of places they are in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. That being said they don't need to look like robo cop. They don't have to look soldiers in Iraq. Nor do they need tanks. But who made them that way? The people we put in office that is who. Hold them accountable. Then maybe we can get some peace officers instead of law enforcers.