Letter to the Editor: Vote Out Those Who 'Fixed' Our Law Enforcement 'Problem' - Centralia Chronicle
Recently, in response to George Floyd’s death, our liberal politicians in Olympia had a knee-jerk reaction and passed legislation that has further handcuffed our police. In a recent Chronicle news article, it was noted that many of the police departments are no longer responding to mental health calls because of restrictions placed in the recent legislation. It seems that use of force has come to include touching.
Really? How asinine do our legislators have to become before they are voted out of office?
First, let’s consider the flash point of this: the George Floyd death at the hands of police officers.
Anyone who watched the video of the arrest knows that George Floyd forgot the first rule when being given an order by a police officer. The correct response is “yes, officer.” Then, let the lawyers figure it out later.
Instead, George Floyd chose to defy the officers and then chose to fight them. Anyone who has been in a fight knows that the adrenaline rules, and clear thinking, when you’re in combat, is hard to achieve. And once the fight is over, it takes some time to clear all that adrenaline from your system. Did George Floyd deserve to die? No. But if he had remembered the number one rule he would be alive today and the officer would still be protecting the public, and the other officers wouldn’t be facing criminal charges themselves. And believe me when I say that the life of the officer that took Floyd’s life is far worse than anything Floyd would have faced if he’d remembered rule one.
The recent article detailed problems mental health officials face without police assistance, and one of the people that created the problem has sworn to “fix it.” That’s the problem with knee-jerk legislation. It will probably be years, if ever, that this problem is “fixed.” And in the meantime we are all in more danger because a bunch of people in our legislative system decided to “fix” a problem. Our crime statistics are out of sight because of politicians “fixing” our problem with police use of force.
Frankly, this “problem” is a non-starter. I believe that being a police officer, as well as firefighter and EMT, is a noble profession, and one of the most difficult jobs a person can have. You have to be a social worker, a psychiatrist, a lawyer and a reader of circumstances far beyond what most people have to be.
Imagine approaching a car from behind in the middle of the night in order to cite someone for speeding or driving erratically. You can’t see inside the car and have no idea what’s coming. Will that person be belligerent? Or rude? Or petulant? Or just accept what’s coming? What about that call to a domestic disturbance? An incredible number of police officers are injured every year while responding to domestic disturbance calls. And yet, they continue to respond because that is their job. When was the last time you faced peril just from doing your job? Rather than handcuffing the police let’s make it easier for them to do their job. And the next time you see a cop say “Hello, officer. Thank you for your service,” because the next time you see that officer they may be saving your life.
And next year, when you fill out that ballot, remember this “fix” to our “problem,” and the sex education that they forced down our children’s throats last year, and vote them out of office.
Bruce Peterson
Centralia
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source: https://www.chronline.com/stories/letter-to-the-editor-vote-out-those-who-fixed-our-law-enforcement-problem,281586
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