Sometimes it is a real struggle to articulate the thoughts that fly through my brain as I skim the morning headlines. There are some stories so bizarre that I cannot even fully register them. I read something; it’s obviously true. Events unfold and human dramas play out billions of time each day. Some snapshots of events gets stuck in my head until I can untangle the mess of questions that might surround them. Some things I cannot make sense of no matter how hard I stare at the photograph in my mind.
Headline from the Houston Chronicle this morning:
“ Houston police officer shoots dead double amputee in wheelchair
Cop was cornered by disabled man, says police spokesman”
To start with, the headline is poorly written and leaves doubt as to whether a man was shot dead or if a dead man was shot – to be clear, a man was shot dead by police. But the sloppy headline isn’t what has my thoughts jammed and bent; it’s the events that are described and the questions they leave me with that are so irritating…
How is it that a fully mobile man with a weapon (or multiple weapons) could possibly perceive an unarmed, one-armed, one-legged, mentally ill man bound to a wheelchair as so much of a threat that he is left no choice but… to shoot to kill?
What are we to make of the fact that this is the second time this officer has shot and killed someone? Does it matter that the first man was also not armed with a gun but a knife?
How can something like this happen? What is the root of the problem?
Is there one singular root or multiple off-shoots springing up from an ailing tree?
As a former volunteer with our local police department I cannot believe that all officers are prone to excessive use of force; I know far too many who are not. So why are there so many stories like this day after day detailing how officers over-react to situations and unarmed or poorly armed ‘suspects’? Why so many instances of unjustifiable force being used against citizens in recent years?
What happened to the concept of “Peace Officers” – the idea of men & woman wanting to protect and serve their communities and the people (their friends and neighbors) in the community?
Is the problem in the training? The hiring process? Are ‘bad eggs’ not being vetted properly?
Is the problem something more creeping and sinister..?
With the increased funding for high-tech equipment, weapons and protective gear are we creating more of a barrier that separates officers from other humans…and their humanity?
If we gear them up like Robo-Cops, isn’t it logical to assume they will end up acting as such? Dr. Phil Zombardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment makes a pretty strong case for creating evil.
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Is this what has happened to our police? Instead of “officers” we have “forces” now. Instead of walking among members of their community, AS members of the community – officers are now being set apart from their communities. More shields, more weapons, more masks to hide behind…more distance between human beings.
What do we expect to happen if not the dehumanization of everyone living within such a system?
All of the questions and unexplained snapshots of our world that are stuck in my head leave me with a melancholy Sunday morning mood that feels like this…
And the only thing I do know for certain is that we live in a very mad world indeed.
I guess I am a bit less generous with them than you are. I feel that most are evil with but a few good ones left. Even many of those will likely capitulate in the end when their pensions and jobs are on the line.
We love a good movie about a good cop who stands up for what is right but as the Serpico movie of years ago revealed, the system is against the good cops.
I do not own a gun but I certainly understand those of my associates who arm themselves. Unfortunately, many of them are arming themselves to protect their families and persons from government aggressors who have become more vicious than any criminal gang and also more well armed.
I see war in the streets coming and for those of us who subscribe to a non-aggression lifestyle it could become very difficult. I pray for wisdom to know where and when to leave my current residence for the place YHWH will reveal as a place of refuge.
Maybe I’m simply still a bit naive because I’ve mostly lived in this area which is still a relatively small/rural community? Even here there has been a rise in officers using more force than necessary but the incidents are few & far between – for now.
As one of the armed citizens you speak of, I can only imagine how you would feel at the idea of being caught between your neighbors and gov’t forces. I prefer the idea of using my weapons as a tool to provide food for my family…I’m not so naive as to think odds of winning any kind of stand-off or confrontation with government forces are in my favor. Unless I am 100% trapped, I’d rather not waste my bullets on killing my fellow humans – even if they are masked and ashamed to show their faces as they turn on the people they pretend to protect.
Yeah, save bullets for zombies. But, I agree with the concept that more Americans are arming themselves against out of control federal authorities and increasing police state mentality. I too like to remind people that we once called the “policy” keepers the “peace” keepers. It’s funny how rabid powercake makes the wolves. Thanks for the excellent post, you write so passionately
Ohmygoodness, I am so sorry for not replying sooner. The filter tossed your comment into my spam folder for some reason & I missed it.
The world is becoming a more violent place and I get stuck between feeling like my having weapons is only adding to the problem…and yet being realistic enough to know that being unarmed isn’t going to help matters either. Sometimes I really just want to stand up and roar, “KNOCK IT OFF! SETTLE DOWN! CAN’T WE ALL JUST PUT DOWN THE WEAPONS & GET ALONG????” Is it really that damn difficult for humans to resist the urge to whomp on each other in a misguided search for power? I don’t know if it’s passionate writing or just ranting to keep my own sanity but thanks for stopping by and reading!
Excellent post! I read about this incident this morning. Very sinister implications attached to it. There have been recent cries to arm our police to the max after 2female officers were shot dead. Besides that they were very unlikely to have had time to use a gun in return armed police around everyday law abiding citizens would fast track the existing sense of alienation many of us already feel even further. More worryingly we don’t have the eight to bear arms here and can’t legally defend ourselves against corrupt cops and gvt official types if armed. It encourages a victim mentality and reduces confidence in standing up against what we feel is wrong. Maybe that is part of the plan…keep the citizens silenced and cowering while they rule the world with emotionless brutality masked and robotic and totally ruthless…hmm…when hell freezes over!!!!
I also read this yesterday. The man in the wheelchair was armed with nothing more than an ink pen. And he was shot to death. A mad world indeed, there ain’t much more to be said. *Shaking my head*.
I don’t think that the militarization of police forces around the world is merely some coincidental occurrence, do you?
For now we Americans can shoot back at police but honestly, even with a fairly sizable stock of ammo like the one I have, no average American would likely last more than 15 minutes against any of our SWAT teams. On the other hand, there’s no doubt that I’d feel more brave in standing up against the system than I would if I were totally un-armed.
To hell with keeping me silent. There just ain’t enough duct-tape on the planet to make that happen. If push comes to shove, I’ll die shoving back, thanks.
Suzie – death for an ink pen. Beyond insane. Gawd help me if they ever knock down my door…I’m sure the cigarette in my hand would be justifiable cause for gunning me down…:-(