In Support of the Thinning Blue Line

 

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

 

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

 

When any given politician is caught with his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar, one could time, in milliseconds, how long before said politician is before a bank of microphones declaring they will be fully vindicated, because, as they note with much gravitas, “we are a nation of laws”.

This is absolutely true. Most Americans believe, and conduct themselves, that laws are to be respected and enforced.

Sadly, there are way too many examples of politicians never being held to account for breaking laws.

That is not our concern for this post.

What is of concern is the falling level of support for those we entrust with the enforcement of the law.

The Madison Conservative stands staunchly behind all law enforcement officers. History has shown us that any law is only as strong as the enforcement mechanisms attached to it. We, as a society, vest law enforcement with extraordinary powers, with the rights of enforcing the law on all of us.

It takes a unique personality to accept that responsibility.

Sadly, the pool of available applicants can only be drawn from the human race, a most flawed collection if ever there was one.

When an officer is found to be lacking, we have a process for removing them from their position of power.

To the disgust and dismay of The Madison Conservative, elected officials across the nation are opting into the policy of defunding and restricting the police. Of note, of course, is that in Washington, D.C., those proclamations of idiocy are made with the security of the Capitol Police and from behind barbed wire fortifications. Local officials have staunchly diminished their local law enforcement with declarations of solidarity with those making the defunding demands. They then hire private decurity forces, at taxpayer expense, to provide them security.

Hypocrite seems too weak a description.

There is no doubt that the cases of police-involved shootings are making national news. We do not wish to dismiss the loss of any life, but what percentage of police interactions fall into the use of deadly force?

Police must be, and are, accountable for their use of deadly force.

The concept of defunding the police, or replacing them with social workers, does not rise to the level of a serious discussion. So wee will not do so here.

There does need to be a national debate on some sections of law enforcement, however.

We have no experience with law enforcement, so what follows can be described as amateur at best, but there has to be a beginning.

 

A recent talk show had a proponent of police being armed with wooden or rubber bullets. The argument was that the police needed the ability to stop a perpetrator, but not have the ability to kill. Given the recent incident of confusing a gun for a taser, arming police with a non-lethal arsenal merits serious consideration. This is not support for disarming police, but giving them the tools to control situations without the ability to kill.

 

The United States military functions under what is called the UCMJ - the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is necessary because of the unique nature of military operations and authorities of military personnel. It may be time to consider a version for the police. Many instances of police deadly interactions do not fit into conventional criminal codes. Given we grant special powers to police, a special criminal code should be taken seriously..

 

The last concept is doubtful to be considered, given financial and union realities, but we believe that putting police back on the beat is the best way to secure police being active members of a community, and not merely a police car appearing when needed. Familiarity with police breeds a unique comfort level with the citizenry.

No reasonable person wants to abolish the police, but bringing them into the fold would do wonders.

 

As the process continues through the legislative halls of America, consider the alternative to a no police world.

 

We recommend that the next time you see a police officer, share a thumbs up, say thanks, or buy them a cup of coffee. Remember, they are the good guys.

They protect us from the bad guys.