According to bloomberg"news" Cops are "Jack-Booted Thugs."

[gregintenn]

But your tone indicates the exact opposite. You have your opinion. Front line cops who have been there have told you, but you still refuse to believe. There are decent people in Ferguson, and they are IN FAVOR of cracking the skulls of these lawbreakers and for a strong show of force. The media does not single out those people's statements, because it doesn't sell papers. I have read a few articles that support that, but they're not on CNN.

Bottom line, if what is going on in Ferguson was going on in MY town, I would support the cops in military type garb and even hand them some ammunition to take out the garbage. This dead "kid" is no aspiring college student, as the media and the parents initially reported. He was a full time thug who met his end because of choices HE made.

Opinion aside, this is 2014. The days of Officer Friendly with his 6 shot revolver are over. Force demands force, and a show of weakness only emboldens the lowlifes who WAIT for something like Ferguson to happen so they have an excuse to loot and destroy.

I do not know whether or not the shooting was justified. Personally, I expect it was.

Why are the days of the friendly officer over?

Due to the recent rash of reported dog shootings by officers, scenes like what we've seen in Ferguson, and other myriad of scandals and misdeeds, along with the militarization of local police forces, I look for a policeman's job to go from difficult to almost impossible quickly.

I am a law abiding citizen, yet I am very concerned by the shifting attitude I see in even our local small town agency. One could once strike up a casual conversation with an officer. That just doesn't seem to be the case today.

You are dead set on being right, and refuse to listen to anyone else's viewpoint. You certainly have that right. I am trying to learn something from you guys that would make me feel better about the current state of our LEO community, but frankly attitudes like you display only cement my opinion further.

 

[Engine 21]

I do not know whether or not the shooting was justified. Personally, I expect it was.

Why are the days of the friendly officer over?

Due to the recent rash of reported dog shootings by officers, scenes like what we've seen in Ferguson, and other myriad of scandals and misdeeds, along with the militarization of local police forces, I look for a policeman's job to go from difficult to almost impossible quickly.

I am a law abiding citizen, yet I am very concerned by the shifting attitude I see in even our local small town agency. One could once strike up a casual conversation with an officer. That just doesn't seem to be the case today.

You are dead set on being right, and refuse to listen to anyone else's viewpoint. You certainly have that right. I am trying to learn something from you guys that would make me feel better about the current state of our LEO community, but frankly attitudes like you display only cement my opinion further.

That is absolutely a correct assessment. I'm not going to go point by point to argue any of this. However, I will say the "bunker mentality" you see here with the "us against them" attitude only reinforces what needs to happen in the LE community - correcting a pervasive attitude. The fall back strategy is always the same - "you civilians don't understand and neither does the Command Staff - only we understand - you just don't know." to which I say hogwash. Should this kid have been shot? I don't know - that is to be determined through proper procedure. I do think, based on his background it was bound to happen, maybe not that day but it was inevitable There are critters that will loot and burn a community to the ground if allowed to do so - a crime wave of opportunity and a chance for the usual instigators to show up for the camera.

When a recruit is accepted and sworn in as a Law Enforcement Officer he/she has sworn to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Once he/she is sworn, they are immediately held to a higher standard than the average citizen - sometimes that is very tough to do especially when personal emotions boil over.

 

[JcMack]

The Missouri State Police commander currently in Ferguson was on my TV about an hour ago. He was speaking to a crowd today consisting of Brown's family and a bunch of concerned citizens. What he had to say made my stomach turn.

 

[G.T. Smith]

I'll all blow over. I always thought that Jack Boots were the ones that needed a boot jack to remove them. Shows what I know.
peace,
gordon

 

[ditrina]

Thank you all for your input.. we're done here..