All lives matter, of course they do. To use the old clichés: white, black, brown,
red, yellow- all of them!
Even the Blue ones.
No, not the Picts, or as we frequently call them, Woads- my ancestral
barbarians from the north of Great Britain, in central Scotland.
(Yes, perhaps that ‘splains a lot, huh?”
The contemporary term.
Blue Lives, as in Blue Lives Matter.
My law enforcement brethren are horribly upset at the extensive,
negative press that a FEW of them have gotten while they either did or may have
abused their power.
Of course they are upset, and they think that nobody really
cares.
Well, we do. It’s
only that they don’t realize it!
Why? The shallow news
format we find ourselves ensconced within, and people’s idea of news.
Police officers are expected to suffer casualties, as are
firefighters, sailors, soldiers, and Marines.
It’s always a tragedy, but not an unexpected one.
When it happens, unless of a particularly “epic” nature, the
word goes out across the state, or maybe just within a 100-mile or so radius. People may or may not see it in their news
feed, or briefly on cable, but, anymore, it is almost certain they will NOT see
it in a newspaper- especially since so few read them anymore.
“…not an unexpected one.”
Expected events are not news anymore, not in most
cases. It is the unexpected things that
are news, that catch people’s attention, and get played over and over again on
Cable Snooze Networks.
Most police officers do a good job, and many do a great
one. At a conscious level, most people
understand that, but subconsciously the authority of the job, and its inherent
conflicts, modulate that consciousness.
Unfortunately, racial profiling has been- and still is- a
significant issue. Ironically, police
officers, especially in large cities, are now being subjected to the same type
of myopia- all of them being judged, being placed under the microscope, by the
actions of a few.
What constitutes news these days are the anomalies.
A firefighter who commits arson. A soldier or Marine involved in a slaughter. Collateral damage from a bombing mission gone
awry.
And, certainly, a police officer abusing his or her
authority- particularly when there is video, and in particular when the video either
conflicts with the officer’s story, or at least APPEARS to do so.
So, what’s the solution, how do we regain some semblance of
balance?
Our elected and appointed officials need to do a better job
of leading the way…
Governor Jay Inslee here in Washington gives us some
insight. The flags here in WA are often
at half-staff on his orders. He has a
system in place that gets people asking routinely “Why are the flags at
half-mast?”, and sends them scrambling for their iPhones and Androids to look
it up.
Police officers.
Firefighters. Battle casualties. Washingtonians of some renown.
Me thinks there is a lesson here, to be followed and
expanded upon everywhere.
When a police officer dies in the line of duty, the flags in
that State should be flown at half-staff until the day after the funeral. Period- in each and every state.
It should be the Lieutenant Governor’s job in all states to
attend the funeral- again, period.
Standard, and consistent- no quibbling over who should be
there, none of the hypocritical double-standards that accompany so many line-of-duty
deaths today, across the spectrum. Stop
this crap about which events, which trips, for living people should be
cancelled or should not. What total,
myopic bullshit.
On a local level, in the City Hall or County Courthouse, a large
portrait of the officer should be displayed appropriately for a period of 30
days. The portrait can then be passed on
to the family, or placed permanently in a public place- someplace
well-traveled, lest we forget.
A state law enforcement officer should be so honored in
their respective state Capitols, and Federal officers should be honored both in
Washington, D.C., and at their local Federal Court.
These things would help a lot, but people already have
e-mail lists, Facebook pages, and Bulletin
Boards that are available to keep
them informed.
If they want to know.
If they really care.
