TAKING THE LOW ROAD

The definition of prejudice is playing out in Ferguson Missouri, prejudice is an irrational pre-judgment  based on insufficient knowledge and biased assumptions. Prejudice and racism is not a mindset owned in exclusivity by any group whether in the minority or majority. 

The tinder box of angry unrest has been lit in Missouri by race baiters and victimhood apologists against their own police force based on sketchy information. What is known is that a man was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson Missouri. Was it an act of police brutality and unnecessary, or was it a justified shooting? The facts are not yet known and the evidence that leads to one or the other conclusion needs to be assessed by level headed unbiased truth seekers not riot instigators.

Should it matter that the victim was black? Should it matter that the police officer is white? If police in any town or city in the country uses unwarranted lethal force on citizens then we all expect them to be charged and prosecuted for the criminal act. Being a police or a federal law enforcement officer does not make you above the law, or grant you immunity if you break the law. Nor should being a police officer turn your rights upside-down and make you guilty until you prove your innocence. 

Americans know that as in any organization or group there are always some bad apples in the barrel and our police forces across the country have always contained corrupt cops. The problem becomes either the perception or the reality of the "Thin blue line" or the fraternity within the police force. The perception is that cops protect cops by either looking the other way or actively helping to cover-up corruption. 

However beyond corrupt policing there are also two other anomalies that show up in any police force. One is ineptitude and the other is burn out. Rookie police officers that are either poorly trained or lack experience  can react overly aggressive and be labeled "trigger happy".  While on the other extreme officers that have years of street policing experience can become jaded, arrogant and hostile given the high stress that comes with the job. These are not corrupt officers yet these are equally not the face of the finest peace officers patrolling the streets of our communities.

"There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics" as Mark Twain suggests about how facts can be misconstrued to reach ignorant conclusions. Many race baiters suggest that statistics show that police shoot Black and Hispanic men more than white men and that statistic proves that there is a police prejudice against minorities across the country. That statistic is true but the conclusion is flawed.

Another statistic shows that minorities commit the larger percentage of crimes in this country. Therefore if police are confronting crime and crimes occur more often among minorities then as a consequence of their job, to arrest lawbreakers, they will have a higher percentage of encounters with minorities. It also means that a higher percentage of those encounters could end up being fatal, either by use of necessary force or unjustified and corrupt use of force.

In recent years a new term has been coined for people that ignore police commands and refuse to show surrender, we call it "suicide by cop".  It is interesting to note that these incidences have increased in our culture yet no one seems to be able to determine why. Are police too trigger happy today? Are people more belligerent toward authority?  Are more lawbreakers on mind and mood altering drugs?

The truth is that most Americans don't want our police force to shoot citizens and ask questions later. Equally most good police officers don't want to shoot and kill anyone on the street. They understand that they are not judge, jury and executioner and would prefer to keep their weapon holstered when making arrests.

Making this fatal police incident politically charged and racists is not just a mistake before the facts are revealed but a wayward mindset for a community that knows that there is another statistic to consider. That is that most of the victims of crimes reside in the urban minority areas. Some of these protesters will needs the help of law enforcement in the future. Will they be made gun shy, or confrontationally challenged and either stay in their patrol cars or not respond at all? 

Indeed in many cities the bigger complaint against police forces in America's urban areas riddled with crime and gangs, is that police avoid those neighborhoods and victims feel abandoned by law enforcement. Police can't be both the enemy and the protector.

The cynical destruction of minority urban areas is caused by three competing messages, hostility toward police, lack of witnesses because they are intimidated with fear by gangs and the arrival of political charlatans that use tragedies in their communities to gain votes and distract people from real solutions.

 

How many innocent minorities (children) are killed in drive by shootings in this country? Today's inner city gangs are no different than when mafia owned the city streets. One of their greatest weapons is intimidation. Yet unlike the witness protection program that was instrumental in prosecuting organized crime figures, we have few ways to protect victims and witnesses against gang violence in most of our urban areas.

Instead of listening to race baiters and leftists victimhood chanters, people should wake up and work with law enforcement to arrive at practical solutions to keep their neighborhoods safer, their children more respectful and prove that material poverty does not excuse moral poverty.