As I said in a previous post, this wound will linger.
I've known a fair number of policeman in my life, mostly due to my involvement with youth sports. A few were neighbors. In most cases they're regular guys, family men, doing a job most of us would not consider. They care about the community.
Then there are the others. Some men were wired to be agressive and the badge gives them the power to act on it. They seek job for that reason. There was one man in particular, in my home town back east, that scared the crap out of me. He was a racist goon with many on the job complaints.
Those few cops drive a wedge between the police and community no good police work can dislodge. On mean streets the uniform becomes a symbol of the worst offenders and the people assume the guy wearing it can't be trusted. He gets no benefit of doubt and must earn trust.....while dealing with the community's worst people. Not an easy task.
The thugs that run those neighborhoods have no problem convincing the 'regular people' they cannot trust the police. They keep their mouth shut because they have no one to trust. Will the police protect them should they inform?
The radicals are the worst. They use hateful rhetoric to inflame the masses, turning simmering distrust and resentment into protest and violent action.
Let's hope Oakland avoids similar incidents in the near future. You don't need an escalation.
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Date: 2009-04-06 02:28 pm (UTC)I've known a fair number of policeman in my life, mostly due to my involvement with youth sports. A few were neighbors. In most cases they're regular guys, family men, doing a job most of us would not consider. They care about the community.
Then there are the others. Some men were wired to be agressive and the badge gives them the power to act on it. They seek job for that reason. There was one man in particular, in my home town back east, that scared the crap out of me. He was a racist goon with many on the job complaints.
Those few cops drive a wedge between the police and community no good police work can dislodge. On mean streets the uniform becomes a symbol of the worst offenders and the people assume the guy wearing it can't be trusted. He gets no benefit of doubt and must earn trust.....while dealing with the community's worst people. Not an easy task.
The thugs that run those neighborhoods have no problem convincing the 'regular people' they cannot trust the police. They keep their mouth shut because they have no one to trust. Will the police protect them should they inform?
The radicals are the worst. They use hateful rhetoric to inflame the masses, turning simmering distrust and resentment into protest and violent action.
Let's hope Oakland avoids similar incidents in the near future. You don't need an escalation.