Only Cops And Soldiers Should Have Guns
Some cops bad, most just fine. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/2007/10/07/2007-10-07_woman_fights_for_life_after_psycho_goes_.html), but those who’d take all weapons away have turned many in society into frightened little chickenshits, as the article points out.
I have a problem with a 20-yr-old cop in the first place. Not mature enough to be on a police force. I certainly wasn’t. Mature enough, that is, never was on a police force.
Though I did volunteer a few years ago for NAO program (Neighborhood Assistance Officer) until I found out that a City Commissioner basically used NAO’s as her personal chauffeurs. That’s another story, and the Commissioner in question was put to pasture over it.
Thanks Chris, my thoughts exactly. 20 is too young. If being a cop these days doesn’t require a college degree in Criminal Law, then it should require a hitch in the service as an MP. Either way the appliants are going to be 22 or older, and possibly grown up a little. Actually I think it should require both ... then your applicant would probably be at least 26 and have served as a junior officer, raising the maturity and responsibility threshold another significant notch.
Ok, its a small town, but WTH? 20 year olds at a late night party with 14 year olds? Are you kidding me? In my day at 20 we wouldn’t be caught dead around 14 year olds.
Appreciate the backup Drew. Frankly, these days, if I were 20 I’d be in Iraq or Afghanistan. Seriously. I was raised believing in this country. Always knew I’d do my military service, the question was would it be as an officer? An enlisted? Or a gentleman? I ended up doing an enlisted gentleman.
As for your assertion that 20s and 14s don’t mix, check out the number of teacher-student cases in the news the last few YEARS. Mostly female teachers with male students!
Where were these teachers when I was a student?
The trouble here is, just who protects us from the cops? Oh, I get it WE do!
Posted by Tired_of_the_left
10/08/2007 at 01:30 PM
Uh, Chris, is that comment’s end of the 1st paragraph one of those Don’t Ask Don’t Tell situations?
you know folks, outside of the tragedy and remembering when I was 18/20 years old (we called the Jailbait Teenyboppers), it’s really not relevant to much of anything.
Dr Jeff, I submit it is relevant to several issues. Allow me a token introduction; I’m fifty-seven years old and I’ve been a federal uniformed lawman for overy twenty-five years now.
First, twenty is a bit young for a deputy or officer given the current education, up-bringing and expectations of our society. If I were the Grand Poobah, cops would be recruited at about thirty years of age. They would all have to have held a ‘real job’ (including service time) for a minimum of two years, not living with parents.
Second, this speaks clearly to the “You don’t need a gun, the police will protect you” argument. Not only this, but the escapades of the Chicago Police Department for the past - uh - six hundred years and various other agencies. I’ve been a ‘public servant’ for a while. I’ve never done anything grossly illegal or negligent, but I’ve had moments of unconcern, and I’ve known of other officers who have unquestionably violated the rights of others and the laws of this nation.
Third, it addresses the precarious nature of the human condition. We can’t do anything from a legislative sense about that, but we all need to teach our children about love and hurt and dissappointment. I didn’t kill anyone when my first girlfriend dumped me (or the second, third and subsequent ones, for that matter) but I was seriously depressed for several years.
This boy simply was never coached or taught anything about real life. To be fair to his parents, it’s obvious he never learned those things, perhaps they made an attempt. It’s a tragedy all around. More than that, it’s a serious lesson, if anyone wants to learn from it.
I think 20 years old is too young to be a cop. But then, at 20 I was making decisions on the airworthiness of B-52’s loaded with nuclear weapons. An 18 year old SP was guarding that aircraft with a fully automatic M-16 and a 21 year old was overseeing him in a vehicle with a M-60. At 21 I was certifying the maintenance of other mechanics to determine if their fixes were satisfactory enough to allow an aircraft and crew to safely fly.
With the proper training and supervision, a young man or woman of 20 can do just about anything. But, in the civilian world, I think 20 is too young for a police officer because of the many different situations they are required to deal with.
What ever happened to the times when young officers were mentored by a seasoned vet? I know police budgets are tight, but that second set of eyes is well worth it especially when officers are accused of improprieties all the time.
Military are often gungho, and there is nothing worse then a young cop on a power trip. Thats another reason for mentoring. Many of our officers are now criminal justice grads. I’ve worked with more then a few of them who were anal retentive. I hate to say it, but some times they need to just get their ass royally kicked. I knew one sergeant who had a young cop in tow, and the rookie mouthed off to the wrong sort of person. after the rookie got knocked into the gutter, the sarg stepped in, cuffed the perp, and when they got to the station, explained that the rookie merely got a much needed lesson in etiquette. The perp got charged with his origional offence, and when the rookie complained that he had also assaulted an officer, the sarg stated that he had only defended himself from an agressive threat directed by another perp hiding behind a badge. Luckily the young officer learned a few lessons, and turned into a darn fine deputy at another agency.There is a lot more to this story than you folks out there are aware of. There appears to be a huge cover-up going on by the police and authorities of Crandon.
The rogue cop was running around for hours after the shooting.
He visited with people to talk about his attack, slept in his truck for 45 minutes, called from home and worked to negotiate his surrender, including talking to his bosses.
The city has refused to turn over lots of 911 tapes (including those from folks who tried in vain to report that they new where this guy was) and the police are circling the wagons and refusing to talk to anyone.
More to come…
What I really find ironic as that as I listened to the talk radio coverage of this story Monday the other lead story was General Motors announcing a new feature on 2009 OnStar equipped models that would allow police agencies to slow a vehicle to an idle if they were involved in a police chase. I won’t be purchasing one of those vehicles. There has been no mention of Texas traffic law which allows you to signal your intentions and continue on to a safe lighted area before stopping for apparent law enforcement officers.
I realize that the feature might be an asset 90% of the time but has noone at GMthought about the possible misuse of such a product.Posted by LJ
10/10/2007 at 07:29 PM
just a nut with a gun.
10/13/2007 at 04:50 PM
