Police situations, another opinion

By Jeff Orvis

Perhaps like never before has the issue of law enforcement been cussed and discussed. An unarmed shoplifting suspect is shot and killed in the street near St. Louis and soon the neighborhood is a powder keg of riots, looting and building burning. A big, unarmed man is approached by law officers in New York. He resists efforts by nearly a half-dozen cops to take him into custody and soon he lays dead on the sidewalk, the victim of an illegal choke hold.

Before the ink is even dry on the t-shirts, hundreds of athletes and others are wearing “hands up, don't shoot” or “I can't breathe” shirts. It's the latest fashion statement. Unfortunately, the statement comes from tragedy.

Social media is soon flooded with accounts of other violence involving law officers. Some of it allegedly stems from what police have done, but a lot of it is informing us of what is done to officers in the line of duty.

Through my former line of work, as well as other personal encounters, I have become acquainted with several local, county, state and federal law enforcement personnel. Having some understanding of what they experience every day, I have a hard time justifying jumping on the t-shirt bandwagon. Because of the availability of cell phones, it's hard to argue with those who feel the man in the New York case was a victim, regardless of what a grand jury might say. The situation in St. Louis is, and will be for some time, up for debate, as “witnesses” suddenly crawled out of the woodwork claiming the suspect was gunned down for no reason. That grand jury believed the officer, who said he felt his life was in danger because the suspect tried to grab his gun.

We expect a lot of our law officers. We send them off to classes, then slap a gun on their hip and expect them to protect us, all for as little as $35,000 a year to start. They are expected to make life and death decisions in a split second sometimes, often after hours of boring little action. They come to our aid seven days a week, every day of the year, in all kinds of weather, often missing or delaying holiday or birthday family celebrations of their own. They represent their city, county, state or nation, so they often have to act as public relations experts, keeping their own emotions in check, regardless of who they encounter.

I remember one time, when we were in church on a Sunday morning and a part-time police officer, since retired, was on duty. There was an ambulance call to our church for someone who had fainted. He came with the ambulance crew, then apologized for wearing a gun in the sanctuary. We quickly were sure to thank him for being there and accepted the fact he had every right to wear his firearm while on duty, even in church.

We are coming into the holiday season, when folks will gather together to celebrate, often with intoxicants. Emotions sometimes run high, resulting in disagreements. Domestic disputes can be some of the most dangerous for officers, who are often expected to keep the peace, even when it soon results in both sides turning on the police officer.

More than once, I've heard mothers of young kids warn them that they had better behave or that policeman over there will arrest them. I'd much rather hear the mother point to the officer and tell her child that he or she is there to protect them if they ever encounter a stranger or get hurt.

More than 99 percent of the time, police officers perform their duties admirably. Some people wonder why so much news has been devoted to the ongoing situations in St. Louis and New York. It's because what happened and what has happened since is news. We have a saying in the news business that while dog bites man may not be news, man bites dog is. It's something that thankfully doesn't happen every day.

I find it a bit amazing that many officers I have known firmly believe in the Second Amendment and the public's right to own guns. You would think their job might be safer if they didn't expect everyone they encounter would be packing heat. We have read of several recent situations where a seemingly routine traffic stop has resulted in a shooting of a police officer. Seems like those of us who are still unarmed are becoming the minority.

Regarding the situation in St. Louis, I have to comment on the morons who decided it would be a good idea to celebrate the grand jury's decision by torching several businesses in their neighborhood, stealing whatever they could carry. Don't they know this is like spitting on the grave of the man they thought was unjustly killed? Don't they realize they are destroying some of the places they shopped, some of them owned by their neighbors? All this did was intensify and prolong the tragedy.

I guess the moral of this rambling piece is the next time you are rolling down the highway and you encounter a policeman on the side of the road, don't mutter some oath. Take your foot off the gas a little. The next time you are stuck in a snowbank on the side of the road or are involved in a traffic accident and a state patrolman or county deputy comes to your aid, say a little prayer of thanks that he or she was there to help.