Trust must be earned
Police should consider level of response to seemingly small issues
The situation has gone from bad to worse.
When did the policing of America and Albuquerque specifically move from being an act of human bravery to one of military tactics? When will police learn to live up to the high standards the public holds for them — instead of the current “shoot first and apologize second” way of dealing with John Q Public? Are we now in a police state, and refuse to admit it?
I recently witnessed one of the poorest examples of policing I have seen in a long time. There were eight police cars sent to South Yale to deal with a mentally unstable homeless individual sitting on the sidewalk.
What ever happened to reason? Why weren’t a maximum of two patrols sent to deal with this situation along with hopefully a psychologist/counselor trained in assisting?
On Thursday, in the national news we witnessed an equally absurd scene in North Miami, Fla., where police shot a counselor attempting to assist an autistic man refusing to move from a city sidewalk.
Fortunately, in this case, the counselor lived to tell his story and the incident was documented on camera as well.
I admit that these are indeed challenging times. Our police are asked to rise above their fears on a daily basis and deal with situations that are what seems to be increasingly complex and potentially dangerous.
The rise of gun ownership has not helped with this situation, but it muddies the waters here.
Many officers here in Albuquerque are leaving their jobs because of perceived increased risks. Yes, now more than ever, there is an increased risk of injury and even death in the line of duty. The job is not appropriate for most individuals.
Having said that, the situation where eight police cars show up to deal with a homeless man in Albuquerque or the blatant killing of a mentally confused man last year in the Heights is inexcusable.
To do their job, our officers need to agree to police with reason and intellect and not over-react.
To gain our respect, officers must indeed live bravely each and every day — and agree to the risks. If this can’t be done, then turn in the badge.
It is simply not acceptable to live in fear that a police officer will shoot to kill first and then deal with the consequences later.
Our police are not the military, although many come to us from there. They are police first and foremost.
They operate within the public’s trust and are challenged to deal with a myriad of situations, always with bravery, restraint and reason.
Trust can be restored over time, but it first must be earned.