Police Brutality Farce

-- Name Withheld by Request Yes, I titled this as a farce for that is what this is. Citizens around this nation are being conned into believing that the police are out there brutalizing the public. First, I am a 20 year law enforcement veteran with an extensive background in the patrol environment. What I am seeing now with these drummed up, and totally false protests, makes me wonder why anyone would decide today to become a police officer.

What are worse, though, are the claims and attempts to tie all this to true racial discrimination and real police brutality as certainly did occur in the ‘70s, ‘60s, ‘50s and earlier. Unfortunately, during these times it is true that criminals masquerading as police officers did indeed commit criminal acts ranging from simple threats and assaults, up to and including murder. What is worse is that in parts of this country these same badge wearing criminals were definitely committing their crimes along racial lines often with black Americans as their victims. Threats such as, “N. . . . . ., don’t let the sun set on your back in this town” by police officers in certain white communities were not as uncommon, then, as we now would like to believe. In far too many areas these criminals with badges were in fact torturing or beating confessions out of citizens in order to obtain convictions for crimes whether the accused were guilty or not. All too many of these forced confession crimes were committed against black Americans, and those of other minority backgrounds. However, white Americans, especially those of limited means, were victims as well. This was true police brutality. These were true violations of citizen’s rights. I thank God now that most if not all of these criminals are no longer wearing the badge. I will not pretend that I know what actually occurred in exact detail in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. I can, however, say without question that there is a commonality in that both men recently had or were in the act of committing crimes when confronted by the police. Both men committed additional crimes during their encounters with law enforcement by resisting arrest. In the Michael Brown case, he had committed a strong arm robbery and was in the process of fleeing that scene. When encountered by law enforcement he violently resisted arrest to an extent that ultimately led to his death. Eric Garner had been in the act of selling unlicensed, untaxed individual cigarettes, known as “Loosy's”. The City of New York had deemed such sales to be a violation and had tasked the police with what amounted to be enforcement of the tax code. While he had certainly not committed as serious a crime as Michael Brown’s strong arm robbery, Eric Garner still made a similar choice in that he, too, physically resisted arrest when confronted by the police and unfortunately lost his life due to a heart attack likely brought on by that very physical resistance.

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Michael Brown’s and Eric Garner’s cases do not come even remotely close to the real police brutality of earlier years as described above. In both of these cases certain political figures and so called "community organizers" have loudly made numerous claims that they represent racial injustice but those claims do not hold any water when confronted with the facts. There is no question or even any argument over the fact that in the Brown and Garner cases both men chose to break the law then chose to resist arrest when confronted by police. It was their own refusal to cooperate and surrender that resulted in the outcomes, unfortunate as they were. For those that are still having trouble understanding what happened and why, please let me suggest that you briefly set aside your emotions and consider these facts. No matter what you might think of the police, the fact is that Michael Brown committed a strong arm robbery and was captured on video committing his crime. Had he simply paid for the item rather than stealing it, the police would not have had any reason to be looking for him. Further, when confronted by the police, he chose to violently resist arrest. Had Eric Garner not chosen to break the law selling “Loosys” the police would have had no reason to confront him. Or had he simply responded to the officers with something such as, “I’m just trying to feed my family but I guess you’ll have to take me in.” there would have been no physical confrontation. Instead he chose to physically resist arrest forcing the officers to struggle with him. As unfortunate as were the outcomes in both cases, they were the result of the actions that the individuals chose, on their own to take. The police, in both cases, were simply reacting to these bad choices. Of course it should be mentioned that, had the State and City of New York, not taxed cigarettes to the extent that they have, as cigarettes currently cost $12.50 per pack there, there would be no market for "Loosy's". In summation, politicians and so called "community organizers" do not want the American people thinking about and understanding what really happened in Ferguson, MO and New York City. They have been lying, making the claim that it was inappropriate police behavior that is to blame instead of the criminals who had each chosen to break the law, twice. These politicians and “organizers” know that if they were to tell the truth in these two cases that they stand to lose some of the support that is the source of their money and power. Instead, they choose to attack the men and women whose job it is to enforce the law. This is not only wrong, it is very dangerous for everyone as when police officers are condemned for doing their jobs, they simply put in their time but stop actually doing those jobs and it does not take the criminal element long to figure out what that means.