[QUOTE=Lissa]
It was 7 PM, not 3 AM. Preliminary reports indicate they did make a buy and did investigate prior to the issuance of a warrant. Preliminary reports indicate the presence of narcotics. So, although there needs to be more investigation, your assertions are based on what?
I am seeing a lot of raw hatred towards the police as the primary motivation for the people who are angry over this. One poster thinks it would have been better for the police to be killed. Others, stipulate it does not matter what the law is, because the law is wrong (i.e. the War on Drugs is Wrong) so ipso-facto, the police are wrong and evil. Finally, others are saying that tactical entries are MORE dangerous in these situations.
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Letter from “A Lousy Cop”*
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I’ve been open elsewhere on these boards about my conflicted feelings WRT cops (even though extended members of my own family are currently, or have been, police officers/sheriff’s deputies), but I can honestly say that I don’t disagree with anything that you’ve said here.
Having said that, I totally get where people with opposing views are coming from. And for what it’s worth–and even though I don’t claim to know what’s really in people’s hearts–I get the sense that much of what you’re seeing here that could be categorized as anti-cop is a distrust of authority in general, and of cops in particular. (I haven’t met too many people in positions of authority–cop or civilian–who always wield that authority wisely and fairly, and I’m guessing that the same is true of many of the people who appear to you to be anti-cop.) (Please note that I said “many,” not “all.”)
Add to this what I, and others, believe to be the very real existence of a thin blue line, where, if a cop does something out of line, especially to a civilian, other cops know good and damn well that they’d better not play the role of canary for Internal Affairs or any other investigative/oversight body, or else there’ll be holy hell to pay. The result of this? Many bad cops go unpunished, and the public? Well, where’s the public supposed to put its trust?
As you might imagine, this feeling that cops can do just about anything they want with, if not total, then near-impunity **frustrates ** and **frightens ** the hell out of people who just want to be treated like more than sub-human by the cops, and who have no defense should a cop who’s having a bad day, or a cop who doesn’t like blacks/gays/liberals/whatever, decide to take his shit out on a citizen. And by “defense,” I mean that citizens can’t defend themselves in the moment, either verbally or physically, since that can easily lead to getting their asses kicked or, worse, shot. (And, honestly, if a cop unjustly kills me and then gets punished? So what? I’m still dead. Unjustly. And Mama mourns.)
So what’re people supposed to do?
I don’t know–and I’m not suggesting that you do, either, and I totally get that you acknowledge the existence of bad cops–but I do know this: Regardless of my issues with cops, I’ve never seriously wished death on them either as a whole or individually, 'cause that’s just not cool. (I have, however, wished terrible, horrible, indescribably painful things short of death on cops who I believe have clearly acted inappropriately, especially when they’ve *unjustly * cause physical harm or death to someone, or–as has been done to me–when they diminish the humanity of an innocent person.)
It’s interesting that you proffered the anti-black analogy in response to E-Sabbath (who I think made some very good points), because whenever I’ve thought about my feelings WRT cops, I’ve often thought about the potential parallels WRT how I’ve been the victim of racial prejudice. And I’ve felt like shit for having these conflicted feelings. I mentioned this to a (white) friend one day several years ago, and she said something to the effect of, "Well, Li’l Pluck, knowing you, I know you feel like shit for having these feelings. The thing you need to keep in mind, though, is that **you ** don’t have a gun and a badge and permission to shoot people, and cops do, so what you feel is not the same as having a racial prejudice against someone. " Mind you, she wasn’t condoning my feelings–she was simply saying that she understood them within the context of the imbalance of power, authority, and, far too often, the public’s perceptions WRT someone like me versus the cops.
I have a feeling that this will be a lifelong struggle for me (not that it pops up every day–hardly), and I accept that, but I can’t help but wonder if the other side of the coin will be a lifelong struggle for cops, because I’ve *never * heard a single one own up to some of the claims that I (and other Dopers on this board, and the public in general) continue to make. (I am aware of that book written last year(?) by the former police chief in Seattle–can’t recall the title right now–but I’m also aware that, IIRC, he’s been severely lambasted by other cops for it.)
So, yeah, like I said, I agree with you, but it’s very, very easy for me to see the other side of this issue, too.
Anyway, thanks for your well-considered post. Then again, your posts are always well-considered (which is one of things I really, really appreciate about you), so no surprise there. 