Jumping The Gun, Or Jumping The Shark?
There are times when a moment's hesitation can save a life. Conversely, there are times when that same moment's hesitation can get someone killed. When does a person decide to hesitate, and what repercussions can come of it?
What if a person reacts on instinct...or training?
Will that reaction result in a life being saved or a life being taken?
If you ask 100 people, you will most likely get 100 DIFFERENT ANSWERS, but there WILL be one, overwhelming factor that all those people will admit to, and that it all comes down to one thing; IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION.
Welcome to the wonderful world of police work...or military operations, cover or otherwise.
In combat, you're pretty much following orders that have come down from someone with a lot more brass on their lapels than the grunts sending rounds downrange, yet, in certain situations, you just HAVE to "improvise", in order to secure the safety of your fellow troopers.
Much the same can (and should) be said for police work.
Now I said all that to say this:
In today's Journal-Gazette is a story, that at first glance, appears to be very troubling on many levels.
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090331/LOCAL/303319998
The story continues the "debate" over FWPD officer Jim Arnold's (fatal) shooting of an illegal immigrant when he tried to run over fellow police officers. And like I say, at first glance, the story opens more than a few cans of worms.
Now, Officer Arnold has ALREADY been investigated by both I.A., and an independent agency, and was found to be NOT wrong in his split-second decision to open fire into the car. Yet, others that have seen the in car videos would paint another picture, going so far as to say the shooting was UNPROVOKED.
One statement made by one Mr. Larry Lee was: "It's scary to think this gentleman (Arnold) is on our streets 'enforcing the law'...it's scary".
Tell you one thing, I'd rather have Officer Arnold (a former Marine with combat experience in Iraq & Afghanistan) at MY side when the chips are down, than you, Bub! Let me back up a bit, and state that I've known my share of MARINES over the years...everyone from a "Bird-Colonel" down to Lance Corporal, and with one exception (who no one could please) every one of those devil dogs were damn good people...period. You knew that these were the kind of folks you'd most definitely want NEXT TO YOU if some kind of shit decided to happen.
The same can be said for a LOT of police officers.
That's not to say that there is NEVER a bad apple in the bunch...there will ALWAYS be a few...that's the nature of the beast.
Example: There is a Philly cop who was recently busted (last week) for selling cocaine (link through The Thug Report at left).
The FEDS got wind of it, through a tip, followed up on it, and bought the coke off of him on several occasions.
One promising career down the crapper, right?
We had a FWPD officer (here) that was getting "busy" with some women (on duty) a few years back. He was dismissed from the force, and tried to sue the city. He lost. He sued the city to BECOME an officer in the first place...and then abused the honor and shamed the badge, plain and simple.
So there are always those who can't handle the responsibility, or will seek to use the department as a means to an end, tossing integrity to the four winds. Those are the bad apples that need to be purged.
I don't believe that to be the case with officer Jim Arnold, but then again, I haven't seen the video.
And that brings me to one very important aspect to ALL of this.
I was NOT ON SCENE when the shooting occurred. And neither was Mark GiaQuinta (attorney for the victim's family), or Larry Lee (local businessman with a Harvard law degree).
Chief York states that his officers did nothing wrong, the Prosecutor's office echoes that, so we have to ask "why"?
I like having the cameras in the police cruisers, but even they are not infallible when capturing a scenario as it plays out. What appears perfectly benign on ONE angle, will most likely be detrimental to officers at the scene. We're used to watching the impossible become reality at the movies and on TV, but this is REAL LIFE 101, kids!
Has either Mr. GiaQunita or Mr. Lee had a chance to review the depositions of the other officers on scene?
Have they SPOKEN to those officers?
Well, the city is not allowing the videos to become public, and (to play Devil's Advocate) to not allow that might be causing more questions to surface. If you've got nothing to hide, then show the videos.
Let the people and the media decide.
But wait...the "people" and the "media" decided to elect our current President...and look at the mess this nation is into ALREADY.
OK, bad example...
Perhaps the people are not the best ones to decide, being as THEY were not there when the shooting took place.
Ditto for the media.
They can only decide based on a video that may or may not show the WHOLE STORY, and that would skew any decisions made. Too many times,we see the media grab the viewers by the nose, shove them down the rabbit hole, and take them on a whirlwind tour of "Wonderland", as we sit by and sip our tea, marvelling at the sensationalism.
It is TOO RARE when police officers shoot people for NO GOOD REASON.
There is always something underlying that goes down to warrant such actions that neither the media or the masses are aware of.
What I feel will come from this latest "revelation", is that the MSM will assist, in no small way to erroneously sway the public (again).
I would caution that is a dangerous road to stroll down.
Most police departments are already outgunned AND outnumbered should any form of anarchistic activity take place within the confines of our fair city (or any other city across the nation), and the LAST thing we need to do is, an ANY way alienate our police department.
In many cases, THEY (the police) depend upon US, the law-abiding public, AS MUCH as WE depend upon THEM to protect us.
IF there is wrongdoing, then those involved will be held accountable and will answer for their actions.
But IF there is no wrongdoing (aside from decent police work), do not attempt to manufacture it.
To look for monsters under the bed, where there might not be any, creates a slippery slope that we dare not try to climb.
If that seems a bit harsh, I would suggest that those willing to understand what transpires on our streets, read the crime reports...take a ride-along...talk to some officers.
To all the men and women walking the thin blue line, as well as the rest of you:
Stay safe out there, America.