Re: So tired of attacks against our Police!!
I have tried to stay away from this topic, but can not. <br />I have to say that I have no opinion on what happened to that child, because I WAS NOT THERE. I can pull the armchair jury that everyone else does in these situations and say the cops should not have fired, but I was not there.<br />I could say that with their training they should be professional enough to hold fire, but I WAS NOT THERE.<br />Now in a perfect world in perfect circumstances they should have held fire until a sniper arrived and take him out with a precision shot AFTER all negotiations failed, but who knows.<br />How long did it take you to form your opinion of what happened? <br />How long did the cops have to form their decision?<br />The average gun battle cops face lasts 3 to 5 seconds. How can anyone even began to criticize the decisions made unless your forced to do so in 3 to 5 seconds? Especially if your life is not on the line?<br />I have been in law enforcement for over 10 years now. I did know when I applied that it was possible that I might get killed, but I did not ever sign up to volunteer to get killed. I will go down with a fight. I have 4 people at home that want me around a few more years. <br />Now to look at this scene, how many oficers were there? How many civilians? Was there enough time to evacuate the area and allow the madman to keep shooting? In 3 to 5 seconds they should have evacuated the entire area, called in SWAT, set up negotiations with the man and went to drink a cup of tea after. <br />Or maybe it was in a crowded area where hundreds of other people were in HIS line of fire and he needed to be stopped immediately. In 3 to 5 seconds weigh out the possibilities of every avenue and make a well planned decision that reaches a desired outcome. <br />That said, I would like to know everyones opinion. What is the leading cause of officers being shot on duty? Answer, it is the hesitation before firing. We know that our career is over if we fire back. We are under such a microscope and everyone will take weeks or months to criticize our actions and decision we made in that 3 to 5 seconds, while under extreme stress and fear, that our career will be over. AT the very least we will be sued for everything we own. But still we keep on going. We live in the worst 15 minutes of everyone elses lives and are often the worlds toilet paper, but we keep it up. I knew this when I started. <br />Now with the benefit of knowing so much, maybe these people can tell me what do I tell my daughter when she is old enough to be curious and asks "daddy have you ever shot anyone?" or "have you ever killed anyone?". Do i lie or do I say well child, that is what I signed up for. I wanted to paint a target on my back and allow everyone to dump on me. I would like to know because this is a question that will come sooner than I am ready for I think. <br />Last week near where I live there was a baby, less than a year old, killed by a "stray bullet" in a gang drug related drive by. That killing made 1 small article on the 3rd page of the paper. It said child killed by stray bullet. The killer was shooting at the driver and hit the child in the back seat. End of press coverage. This incident said "police slay baby". Then it said that the man was using the baby as a sheild and blah blah blah. It has made 3 or 4 days in the paper now. What was the difference in the 2 killings? <br />Although I have signed up for this, I will never stop being amazed at what another human being will do to another. I have seen murders, rapes, stabbings, shootings, child abuse, all of the above done on a child, whatever. BUT I am still at times shocked and amazed at what one person will do to another. I firmly believe that the man holding this baby is responsible. The officers were doing what they felt best at the time with what they had to work with at the time. I am sure if they had been given time to think about it they would have held fire. But there is not enough information. Did they not see the baby, did they think the baby already dead, was it a sniper miscalculating the move of the father. Was there hundreds of prople in the line of fire forcing them to decide between the lesser of two evils? These are questions that will be asked over the next few months until someone given enough time and information will be able to process and come to a perfect solution and then point fingers if needed. <br />To Bubbakat, stick with it. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. The days of cops hiding their feelings is over. From experience, stick with it and work through it. In time the blood smell will leave you, the images will stop coming into your mind, and things will be better. It all takes time to heal, but you can't shut it off like we are supposed to. You will always have the memory and that is good. My problem I find that bothers me more than what I see is that I am not as bothered by what I see any more. remember as long as you still feel something your doing good and reacting like your supposed to. <br />To everyone else, I can hold no ill feelings to someone who can not or does not want to wear a badge. I made this choice. It was a sort of calling, something I just had to do. If it is not for you that is the way it is. But please remember to look at things from this side of the badge when your criticizing our actions. Put yourself out on the dark highway with a suspect when suddenly from nowhere bullets start flying. That 3 to 5 seconds feels like forever but you are also moving in slow motion. Then it is all over, nothing but the smell of gunpowder and blood and someones dead. <br />No matter what happened there I will include the suspect, the baby, and the officers involved in my prayers. They all need it.
