How would you prefer people to protest?

It's football season again, and once again my social media feed is full of postings that put NFL players that take a knee during the national anthem in the same category as people that spit on returning 'Nam vets.

Not trying to speak for 'Nam veterans, but as a veteran of Desert Storm I personally think that comparison is disrespectful to them.  Reason being?  Because there's a huge difference between someone yelling "Hell no, we won't go, we won't fight for Texaco!" and someone personally assaulting me.

Also, as a veteran, I'm sick and tired of being used as a propaganda tool.  Nothing pisses me off as much as seeing a huge sign in a restaurant that says "Thank you for your service!  Veteran's discount!" and then finding out that the discount only applies on the 5th Sunday of the month, and only for my meal.  Look, I don't expect a business to give me any special consideration, just don't use my bothers in arms and me as free advertising.  If you're going to present yourself to the other 93% of the population as "Supporting Veterans" then actually do it.

I mention the perceived "disrespect for the troops" because it, and "the flag code" seem to be the only argument that people have against the "Taking a knee" protest.

Just in case you're thinking "this guy's a pacifist" dear reader, allow me to assure you that I'm not.  If I'm in a crowd at a sporting event and the national anthem is playing it takes me back to my days of Drill and Ceremony when I was in the Army, I'll automatically go to "Attention", and "Present Arms", if I happen to be standing behind someone that chooses to play with their phone, I'll spend the whole time trying to get heat vision to activate and burn holes in the back of their head.  On more than one occasion I've confronted the individual after it's over, gently communicating to them that it took a lot of self control for me not to throw their phone onto the playing field and slap them on the back of the head.

Yes, I am a patriot, no I'm not a nationalist.  I love my country, part of that means questioning the policy of a government that can do horrific things (and does with alarming frequency).

You see, I don't just think it's a right to protest injustice, I feel it's a responsibility.  Even if I don't agree with someone's viewpoint, I still want them to have the right to say it.  When it comes to "take a knee" I see a lot of police departments that have policies (written or unwritten) that are oppressive.  I look at the Furguson riots and I see a repeat of the L.A. "Rodney King" riots.

If you read about the L.A. Riots (and more importantly the investigation into police tactics afterward) Chief of Police Daryl Gates had either instituted, or allowed policies to continue that were unconscionable and unconstitutional.  A change was needed.

The years leading up to the incident with Rodney King had cost the LAPD a lot of credibility, and when a man, High on PCP led the police on a high speed pursuit, then was drug from his car and beaten savagely on camera, followed up by the four officers being exonerated in court a whole demographic of citizens collectively snapped.

Rightfully so, I'm all in favor of putting down a rabid dog, I'm not in favor of stoning it, lighting it on fire, or tying it to a tree and starving it to death.  In other words, if someone decides to lead police on a 150mph chase down the freeway, endangering innocent bystanders... I'm in favor of snipers in helicopters fast-roping on to the next available overpass and taking them out.  I'll betcha high speed chases end completely within a year.

A lot of my friends that are opposed to "take a knee" have simply no idea how much power an arresting officer actually wields.  It's basically unlimited.  There is no "innocent until proven guilty" in law enforcement, that is for the court system, police work is based on intuition, "probable cause", and when a person puts on the uniform there's a shift in mentality that's necessary for self preservation.  Life decisions are typically made in a blink of an eye and seldom with the luxury of the whole story that comes out later in the courtroom.

If you have an officer that is burned out, angry, going through personal problems, having an "off" day, he shouldn't be out interacting with the public, because that attitude will come through in those interactions and it will make it hard on the rest of the police force.  In corporate America it's called a "mental health day", and that's for people who sit at desks and stress out when someone takes the last cup of coffee and don't make a fresh pot.

See the psychology of a typical police stop isn't simple, or linear.  When you're driving along and you see flashing lights in your rear view mirror the typical person will feel a shot of "fight or flight" adrenaline.  "What did I do?", "Am I going to get a ticket?", you look down at the speedometer and wonder how fast you were going.  Like it or not, you get nervous and feel (and act) guilty.

Now consider a scenario where your interactions with police in the past has been unpleasant.  Maybe you because you actually did have problems in the past (and paid debt to society, are trying to turn your life around) or you just look like the people that the police officer typically has problems with.

What's the saying?  "Looks like a duck, walks like a duck..." but not a duck.  I've watched body cam video of a police stop that went well.  In all actuality the person being stopped should have been ticketed or arrested, the officer showed grace.  At the same time, the officer's attitude was aggravating the situation.  If I empathize more with law enforcement, my opinion of the stop would be "the kid got off lucky, he broke at least three laws and was a danger to society" (driving under the influence).  If I empathize more with the person being stopped, if I imagine an officer goading me like that... I would be in a position where it would take a lot of self control to not lash out, and I would probably file a complaint, but then, to my knowledge there's never been pot in my car, I don't drink and drive, and I never have an open container in my car.

With power comes responsibility.  I'm licensed to carry a firearm, part of that is the assumption that I'm able to and committed to it's safe and appropriate use.  If I'm carrying a firearm I'm less prone to get into confrontational situations... because I know the awesome responsibility, and hope I never have to take a human life.

Society has a tendency to run around like a bunch of spoiled toddlers punching authority figures in the balls.  Do that enough and eventually you're going to run across someone that will whip your ass.  I'm sorry, but if someone is driving drunk, I want Law enforcement there to stop it, because I'd hate to kill some kid.  Would I like them to be professional?  Absolutely, but some drunks can be real assholes and I'm all in favor of them eating some asphalt.

Law Enforcement does provide a necessary service, if you don't believe me, quit avoiding "that" part of town... you know the one where you're afraid you'll get carjacked at a stoplight?  The reason you feel that way, the reason you lock the doors when you go there is because you don't feel the presence of the rule of law.  You instinctively feel that there are people around that would kill you if they knew how much cash you have on you.

Where the problem comes in is when Law Enforcement gets the "get them before they get you" mentality (that's a quote from "Hill Street Blues").  America shouldn't be a combat zone, but in many cities like Detroit it has become one.  Rules of engagement are different in a combat zone, it's a subjugated population, not a free population.  If we want America to remain free we have to stop making laws that normal people routinely don't see the need for.

...and police need to remain the professionals that they are, even when someone is guilty.  "Guilty until proven innocent".  This puts them at a disadvantage, it's not fair to them, that's why policies that get the wrong mentality off the job are so important.  Police work is a calling, if someone does it for any other reason than the desire to help people they're doing it for the wrong reason.

A tale of two Texas cities

This last week I've been watching two related stories unfold.  I live just South of Fort Worth, TX, close to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.  It's not uncommon for me to drive to nearby Dallas.

This week two stories are making headlines, two lives lost, law enforcement involved in both.

The first story is about heroism.  Three men, I'm sorry to say African American, who found a lucrative way to generating extra spending cash through armed robbery of local Hispanic bars and nightclubs.  Prior to Friday's incident Dacion Steptoe, Samuel Mayfield and Timothy Huff had shot three other people in seventeen armed robberies.  Friday night when they tried again at Los Vaqueros Sports Bar.  Fort Worth PD's officer Garrett Hull was there undercover.

Officer Hull purposely waited until the murderers left the bar to avoid innocent civilians being caught in the crossfire, and when confronting the the murders outside, he made the ultimate sacrifice for his community.  He was shot in the head and died a few hours later.


The second story is one that underlines the need for policy change in America.  The official story as I understand it is that (white) Officer Amber Guyger came home after a 12 hour shift got off at the wrong floor, and shot and killed her 26 year old (black) upstairs neighbor, believing him to be an intruder in her home.

Only time will tell if that story is the truth, there are many other possible scenarios that make more sense in my mind, but for the moment I'm going to take the story at face value and assume that Officer Guyger is "cut from the same cloth" as Officer Hull.  If that is the case, if on a normal day Officer Guyger is willing to give her own life to protect another's, then DPD faces a dilemma... they're putting their officers at risk by working them past their capability of making good decisions in life-at-stake situations.

We require truck drivers and pilots to get enough rest to be able to make decisions that effect the lives of others.  At very least the one of their officers made a grossly unacceptable error in judgement.  Is it because she was fatigued past the point of being able to make a decision?

In Texas, and a lot of other states "Castle law" is in effect.  Basic principle is that citizens have the right to protect themselves and their property.  Example: if you walk out of the store and find someone breaking into your car, it's within your rights to kill them.

Now taking a life is not something to be taken lightly.  That's not something that the action movies go into.  The psychological after effects of taking a life, even if it's justified.  I've guessing that the people who have given that any thought at all will come to the conclusion that unless life depends on it, let the bad guys have the damn car.

Which leads me to my next point, if DPD doesn't have a policy of checking the mentality of it's officers, then it's a matter of time before Dallas has riots.

There's a saying, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.". You see being a Police officer is a calling, not a profession.  If an officer is there for any other reason than to "serve and protect", if they have the mentality of "Do you feel lucky punk?", or "Get them before they get you.", the results are catastrophic.  American cities aren't war zones, it's citizens aren't to be subjugated.

Part of the problem is the "fish stinks from the head" Dallas City counsel has a habit of making policy that makes things difficult on law enforcement, the anti-panhandling policy is a good example.  I don't like 'em either, but I'll be damned if I'm going to call 911 and tie up the system because I'm uncomfortable saying "No".  Police have better things to do with their time, like tracking down the guy that walked into a local convenience store and shot two people as a decoy so he could go steal the ATM machines from two other convenience stores.  That story probably didn't even make the news, but I'm sure that police are still working on it.

I guess that's my point of this.  I'm reminded of returning Vietnam Veterans.  No, not everyone who went to the war was a hero, the My Lai Massacre was a horrible thing, the troops still deserved our support, the politicians that set the policy that resulted in the massacre should have also been held accountable.

Los Angeles PD changed it's policy after the '92 riots, the city is now safer.  The police are now safer, that same standard should be nationwide.  We owe it to the men and women who form the thin blue line between criminals and victims.