Law Enforcement Tribulations

On December 2, 2011 a former New Orleans, Louisiana cop was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his part of a cover-up of the shootings of unarmed residents after hurricane Katrina. On December 16 federal prosecutors charged the Seattle, Washington police with routinely using force and they say it’s happening more and more (I know they’ve been looking into the Albuquerque, New Mexico police department; on November 17-2 cops were fired for kicking a suspected car thief in head and celebrating; police said that the majority of law enforcement is good but recently in trying to hire too many at a time too quickly there is poor training and supervision). On December 17, 2011 it was reported that in the last decade Justice Department case records showed that more than 500 police and correctional officers have been convicted of abusing their authority to beat, maim or rape and even murder citizens (some for traffic violations). On December 21 a Memphis, Tennessee police officer was charged with dealing drugs while on duty. On January 6, 2012 an Allentown, Pennsylvania cop tasered an unarmed 14 year old honor student saying she attacked him but the YouTube video showed her leaning against a car and raising her arms-no attack. On January 25 the FBI arrested 4 Connecticut police officers for assaulting immigrants and creating false reports. On February 2-4 New York cops lost their badges after being caught on video beating a suspect. What’s driving this behavior – could it be that they really aren’t trained in common sense? We expect law enforcement to protect us and catch criminals that do us harm; they are not the ones that are to cause harm. Are they frustrated and/or scared? Cyber-criminals are hacking phones lines and placing false 911 calls and others set up FaceBook or Twitter bombardments of police phone lines (I think this is horrendous because it puts people’s lives in danger when law enforcement is misdirected). Early release of prisoners doesn’t help their situation. On February 9 a 7 year old girl escaped an attempted kidnapping at a Georgia WalMart; the 25 year old man was recently paroled after a manslaughter charge (he was caught in less than one hour). On February 16 a federal agent was shot in a workplace dispute inside a Long Beach, California federal building; the FBI said an immigration agent fired multiple shots at  his coworker and a third agent fatally wounded the shooter. We can’t trust them and they can’t trust us - too many people have guns.

On December 29 it was reported that on duty police fatalities nationwide were up 13% this year (overall up 16% with deaths due to shooting up 20%). On December 30 it was reported that the District of Columbia (the US capital) posted its lowest homicide rate in 50 years and yet US law enforcement deaths rose 15% over last year despite a lower crime rate. On January 5, 2012 ABC News reported that in the US there had been 6 fatal police officer shootings in just 7 days; police said they’re losing the battle because of assault weapons sold online and in black markets and they’re seeing more criminals that would rather shoot it out with them than to face the longer sentences given to repeat offenders. On January 12 it was reported I that homicides were no longer in the top 15 reasons for deaths. This is good but perhaps it’s because the number of shoot outs have increased and the police are taking some repeat offenders down. Let’s look at some of the things law enforcement has had to deal with.

On December 8 it was reported that Virginia Tech had a scare 4 years after a massive killing on the same campus; at the first killing a notice to the campus went out 6 minutes after an officer was killed; the second incident by a 22 year old part-time student at nearby Radcliffe who had stolen an SUV the day before killed an officer and himself but there was no slaughter of others. On December 10 a gunman was randomly shooting at cars at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, California (CA) because he was unemployed and had recently broken up with his girlfriend; officers shot him to death. On January 1, 2012 a pharmacy robber demanding Oxycodone and an ATF officer were shot dead in Long Island, New York. On January 5 in Ogden, Utah one police officer was killed and 5 others were seriously wounded while trying to serve a drug related warrant; neighbors said at least 40 shots sounding like AK 47s were heard; the wounded suspect was found in a backyard shed; his father said he was an army veteran suffering from PTSD but he had a criminal record. On this same day police mistook a pellet gun for a real one and shot an 15 year old boy at a Brownsville, TX middle school while classmates coward in their classroom; the boy was standing outside the principal’s office and wouldn’t drop the weapon, instead he pointed and fired. On January 13 New Orleans, Louisiana police found 2 live grenades in a car outside their headquarters (the car was used earlier in a deadly home invasion) and they had to kill the suspect as he wouldn’t surrender. On February 23 a Washington state trooper shot to death after traffic stop. On March 10 a judge was stabbed and a deputy was shot (injured) in a Washington state courthouse attack. On April 13 a police chief wearing a bullet-proof vest is killed (8 days before retirement) and 4 others were injured during a drug bust in Greenland, New Hampshire before the suspect killed himself. On this same date a civilian and an officer were shot while trying to serve an eviction notice in Modesto, CA. On April 21 Sacramento, CA after an exchange of gunfire police fatally shot a man suspected in a series of carjackings.

It seems to me that this is a no win situation because our society which includes the cops is running rampant.