This article was first published on the 4th of July, 2020 by Patrick Carpen.
Last updated: July 4, 2020 at 12:47 pm
I’m often amazed at some people’s attitude to the police. I’ve seen a few videos of African Americans resisting arrest or refusing to show their ID, and I’ve always wondered, “what’s so hard about complying with simple instructions?”
Remember that the police is there to maintain law and order for the benefit of you the ordinary citizen. They patrol the streets at night so that you can sleep in peace. Imagine what life would be like without the police. Imagine someone coming in to your business and walking away with your items without paying – and there is no police to call – that situation could easily cost you your life – or spiral into a bloodbath. Imagine bandits breaking down the door of a woman who is alone at home and there’s no 911 to dial. Try to imagine what life would be like if anyone were free to harm anyone without any law to restrain them.
I’m not by any means saying that the police never abuse their authority or that there is no such thing as police brutality, and by no stretch of the imagination am I defending the actions of Derek Chauvin – the criminal cop who murdered an unarmed man.
I’m also not saying that I’ve never been the victim of some stupid cop – it did happen to some extent. But whenever I’m intercepted by a police officer, I always give full cooperation.
“Step out of the car please.”
“Sure.”
“May I see your ID?”
“Yes, here it is.”
“Where are you headed?”
“I’m headed to….”
“Where are you coming from?”
“I’m coming from….”
“OK, proceed and have a nice day.”
“You too officer. Thank you.”
Now that wasn’t too hard was it?
But what is even more amazing is that people get surprised when people who resist arrest gets killed. And people get surprised when those who refuse to cooperate with the police are forcibly arrested.
Yes, there have been times when the police officers have used their badge and weapon to commit cold blooded murders, but there are other times when police officers were charged for simply defending themselves. People need to understand that when the police is attacked, he or she enters into combat mode, and when a police enters into combat mode, they are likely to kill.
Remember that police were trained to be aggressive and defensive. They were also trained to respond to dangerous combat situations. And more importantly, police officers were trained to use their weapon. The point I’m trying to make here is that the police is out there to protect you, your children and your parents. They are there to maintain law and order. Imagine what living in a world of anarchy would feel like, then show some respect.
After the murder of George Floyd, millions of so called Americans took to the streets of America on a killing, stealing and looting rampage. These cold blooded criminals entered into war mode. Marching under the banner of “Black Lives Matter,” thousands of criminals tore down business, beat innocent people, looted, destroyed the properties of innocent and hard working people – perhaps the lifetime work of some people and even murdered people in the streets.
But that’s not all. Thanks to this criminal act by the Black Lives Matter group, thousands of innocent people will suffer and perhaps die from COVID-19.
How does that help the black race? It only makes the black race look more horrible. It makes you tempted to think that it is not possible to coexist and that apartheid is the only solution. Or it makes you want to pack all black people into a spaceship and fire them into outer space.
But then, out of the blue, someone comes along and reminds you that you can’t judge an entire race of people based on the actions of one, a few or even a group of them. On that note, here’s a beautiful story from an African American.
“I was pulled over today for speeding. The officer did not know me nor did I know him, but we each showed one another a mutual display of respect in our interaction. He was doing his job, and I had made a mistake in trying to hurry home to get started moving that lead to our path’s crossing. He ran my information, and in the end we talked more about how our individual days were going, and the situations and circumstances within our society that have lead to interactions such as he and I’s to play out much more negatively, some even deadly, than ours, than we talked about the situation that lead to him pulling me over. In the end we both thanked each other for our mutual displays of respect and agreed to take a “selfie” together to help tell our story.
greg barnes jr (photo above)
I can’t stress enough that NO demographic and/or profession of people are all bad. Neither of us are the enemy. We can continue to fight against each other until we are literally “black and blue”, or we can show one another the respect we inherently deserve, not as “black man” and “blue police officer”, but as humans. None greater, none less..
