MAKE LIKE A JACK RABBIT…
(and get shot like a dog…)

The recent number of police shootings of unarmed suspects does seem as if the ranks of law enforcement are filled with trigger-happy goons, just itching to blast away at anything that moves…especially if it is Black, or any other minority.

Or so it seems…but only because of the way both the regular news media, not to mention the social media universe, react to such incidents, by making immediate rushes to judgment before having all of the facts and the real context of events leading up to such incidents.

As we’ve mentioned before police officers really don’t have many options to choose from when faced with situations which require force, especially deadly force. They are only nano seconds away from finding themselves in a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t situation…with limited means to apply for such situations…baton, gun, or taser?

This is an especially impossible situation when the individual who has been stopped for a relatively minor infraction, such as a traffic violation, drives off at high speed, or bails, and starts running away. The fact that they may or may not be Black, Hispanic, or otherwise, is not really the issue. It just boils down to…make like a jack rabbit…and get shot like a dog…because police training is focused on-apprehension-, and, like any well trained hunter, at the slightest sign of either fight or flight, they react accordingly.

The problem is thus two-fold…if someone resists being apprehended, or attempts to flee from it, police will react with force to stop it. What kind of force to use depends entirely on the situation of the moment. The second aspect of this has to do with what the police have in the way of equipment to accomplish that. As we’ve said…they don’t have a lot to choose from. So one has to ask…what are they expected to do?

Some of these recent incidents are definitely egregious…back-shooting multiple shots at a fleeing unarmed individual (regardless of race)…is extreme. Yet, if that officer had not fired, that individual would have run off…which would then have required the deployment of resources for an organized manhunt throughout the area(while the fugitive would have been free to possibly commit other crimes. etc.). Other shooting incidents appear to be errors of judgment, and mistakes, in reaching for the wrong gear in the heat of the moment.

Which bring us to the question: are there better ways available, practical ones that is, for police to deal with individuals who violently resist or attempt to flee jack rabbit style? We would like to think so. Perhaps a different training emphasis in how to handle such situations, or a better array of equipment at hand (keeping in mind they already carry a heavy burden of weight with what they have), all these aspects need to be reviewed.

Conversely, society as a whole needs to do a much better job of putting across the idea, especially among the young, that compliance, rather than hostility, violence, or flight, when interacting with police…is the better way…and could mean the difference between life…or death. Unfortunately ours is a culturally violent society, and lately, seems to have reached a predominant mindset that any confrontation with police authority must be met with hostility or violent reaction against it. It’s a sad reflection of how things have changed over the past century.

There was a time when police were called – peace officers – not – law enforcement officers. The cop on the beat was looked upon with respect, as a guardian of good order and peace. Most people abided by that, and any need for “enforcement” was considered abnormal. Not so today. The transition from an emphasis on keeping the peace to one of having to enforce the law probably began when we as a society made the dreadful error of – Prohibition -. By the time we came to our senses and repealed that error, the virus of a anti-police mindset had been turned loose, becoming worse as time went on to culminate with the extremes of disdain and disrespect of 1960’s (pigs, fuzz, etc)…the residues of which still linger on.

Well, while we cannot discount the factors of individual racial bias in many of these shooting incidents, by and large police officers are not racist or driven by any particular bigotry in the way they react to certain individuals. Modern technology with instant camera and video means in everyone’s hands just makes it appear that way.

In closing, here’s a sobering thought about police officers…how many hundreds of them are senselessly killed in the line of duty every year by…idiots… who’ve been stopped for a simple traffic violation…compared to the numbers of those shot by police…rightfully or wrongfully?

Perhaps the disparity between those numbers might make the rest of us rethink our perspectives about police officers and realize they are that thin blue line between us…and the storms of anarchy.

CENTURION