DO WE WANT POLICE DEVOTED MORE TO ONE ANOTHER THAN THE PEOPLE?
It is understandable, although perhaps undesirable, that thousands of police officers go to New York to mourn the assassination of two of their own. The problem with their show of unity as a national interest group in today’s world is that it suggests these officers are separated from the local peoples they are expected to serve and protect. The open hostility of police against the mayor of New York for having previously criticized the use of an illegal choke hold which resulted in the death of a civilian, is and should be a grave concern to the vast majority of American citizens. This administration’s militarization of law enforcement in communities across the continent with weapons of war to be used against local people upon command betrays those covenants necessary for any legitimate claim to governance with the consent of the people. The Declaration of Independence documents a free peoples’ abhorrence of standing armies and mercenaries as a means of governance. Yet this appears to be the role our leaders have chosen for police. Although a biased media would have us believe that we are only dealing with issues of race; I think it more likely that the media is publicizing police violence (and immunity) as a way to let us all know we will not be free (or possibly even alive) if we do not acquiesce to their will or whim. Surely, both the police and their superiors must know that at some point immunity from injustice will be seen … Continue Reading