The Police Need to Sack Up

I'm confused by these police out here.

On the one hand, the police are supposed to be brave souls, the thin blue line that stands between decent society and chaos, the protectors of the vulnerable.  When everyone is running away from danger, they run towards it.  On the other hand, police are actually delicate flowers that need our love and support to adequately do their jobs.  That's what all these police union heads and chiefs and sheriffs are out here saying, and it's making their guys look kinda soft.

Yeah, the police aren't looking so good in the realm of public relations here lately, what with all these protests against them, just because their weapons keep accidentally discharging into people.  And the police aren't gonna stand for it.  They want you to know that they put their lives on the line to protect you every day and that you should appreciate what they do.  And in a perfect world, we probably would.  Except, we don't live in that perfect world.  We live in a world where they shoot unarmed black people of all ages, for no reason at all.  We live in a world where police are attacking school children for standing too close.  We live in world where people actually don't want to call the police, because less people will get shot if the police don't get involved in the business of protecting people.

People are actually starting to say, "I just got robbed, but it's safer if you don't come. I got my future to think about."  You're not supposed to say that to the police, that's something you say to your crazy uncle that keeps a straight razor in his boot.

But this is where we are, and the police are really in their feelings about it.  Despite all of the unwarranted shootings and assaults that they don't get charged for, they still feel like they're heroes.  They don't think anything is wrong with the idea that a segment of society fears them.  They still want everyone to tell them how much they're appreciated.  To them, it's unfair that people should say the harsh things that they say about the police these days.

Well, it's unfair to us that we can get assaulted or killed by them and no charged are ever filed.  Looks like we both have grievances.

And what's worse, they think that mean words and unequal violence are on the same plane.  Like, in their minds, I said to them, "Hey, you shot and killed me," and they're like, "Well, you hurt my feelings.  I guess we're even."  So, to recap, the police think a sassy teenager and an armory filled with machine guns are the same thing.

They would also have us believe that the Black Lives Matter movement is inciting violence against police, and there are two things wrong with that.  One, police killings have been trending downward for a while now, and two, anyone that wants to kill a cop was already in the business of killing cops before Black Lives Matter became a hashtag.  Like that dude rode the bus from Baltimore to New York to shoot some cops didn't have that in mind long before these protests started.  If killing cops wasn't already part of his daily thoughts (and it was), then a six hour bus ride would have been more than enough time for him to come to his senses.

So cops getting shot was already a hazard of the job, and has been since the day guns were invented.  Probably because your entire job is to stand in the way of someone's illegal hustle.  You're essentially a professional hater.  So when some dude got around to inventing the gun, the first thing he probably tried to do was use it on the government empowered peacekeeper that kept messing up his bootleg textiles operation.

So, no one sprung this on you, cops.  This is the job that you signed up for.  We didn't ask you to become cops, especially if you're gonna be out here shooting 12 year old kids.  I guess you thought this job was gonna be all shooting black people and violating our civil rights, but it turns out there's more to it than just the fun stuff.  Sometimes, the bullets come back.  Sometimes, people aren't going to like you.  Sometimes, it's going to be your fault and people will want you held accountable.  And if you can't deal with that, then maybe you shouldn't be a cop.

Because it seems like cops doing their job better is completely off the table, based on the statements that these police are making.

And it's not like they need the support of the people they police, anyway.  They haven't had the support of black people probably ever, and it hasn't stopped the police from getting pretty much whatever they want from Americans.  The police of Doraville, GA have a tank, and the population of Doraville is like, 10,000 people, and barely has crime.  They probably don't have tasers in Doraville, but they have a tank.  And the only time that tank is getting used is when they have to make YouTube videos about it like this one.  But they have it, because police get what they want, no questions asked.  The troops don't even have it that good, and the wars they fight aren't rhetorical.

So, let's not act like public support is necessary for operations.  You just want someone to pat you on the back and tell you that you done good.  And to act like your feelings are important at a time when you're shooting people like you're on XBox Live is fucking disgusting.