Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick, Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter take a knee or stand for the anthem. Colin Kaepernick, with his simple non-violent knee gesture, has caused America to rethink race relations in this country. Specifically, when Black people are stopped and killed by police, the police are not being held accountable for their actions. Colin has taken his stand based on certain horrific videos of Black people being shot by police officers.
I have watched the videos of Freddie Grey, Philando Castle, Eric Garner, Rodney King, and Patrick Harmon. I will make sence of them in accordance with my life experience and my knowledge of the police.
When I was in Spain, people came out at night and played Three Card Monte at Plaza Catalunya to cheat the tourists out of their money. While this was happening, the police suddenly appeared on their bicycles and started beating the thieves.
An old high school buddy went to Mexico and bought two kilos of cocaine from a Mexican policeman. My friend had blond hair and blue eyes. They put him in jail and beat him for two years. His wealthy family took the police to Mexican court. The judge asked the police if the allegations were true and they agreed that they were. The judge looked at my friend and said ” He is a man, he can take it.” They took him back to his cell and beat him for another three years. His family bribed the Governor of Sonora, at which time he was released.
When I was in Amsterdam, I was standing outside a legal bordello and saw a prostitute hit a Dutch policeman in the chest with her fist. The policeman made a phone call. I thought he was calling for backup. Ten minutes later the pimp showed up and, in front of the police and the crowd (which had gathered), broke her nose and dragged her up the stairs.
Five years ago, I was stopped by the police for failure to yield to a police vehicle which was parked on the shoulder of the road. He got out of his car, screaming obscenities at me. I realized my situation was dire. At that point and in a soft voice I said ” I’m sorry sir.” Right then his voice normalized. He said he was sorry for yelling, but that his last call was rude to him and he didn’t mean to take it out on me. He said he would write me the ticket because the offense was serious but, because of my attitude, he would go to court and tell the judge that I was cooperative and request leniency for me. This officer became my friend. If I had raised my voice and acted in a defensive manner, the outcome might have been different and I would have been the white Freddie Grey.
In the previous paragraphs, I talked about disrespectful and disobedient civilians. Now the focus must examine the competence and occupational suitability of the police officer. To this point I relate the following story.
I was a blackjack dealer at a small casino in Laughlin Nevada. One of my co-workers told me he was a doctor. I asked him if he was really a doctor why would he want to deal blackjack in Laughlin for forty dollars tips and minimum wage a day. He said one night a patient came in the emergency room with severe abdominal pain and that he and another doctor diagnosed acute appendicitis. The decision was a surgical intervention. During the procedure they observed an area of dead tissue which they removed. They closed the wound and sent it to pathology for a diagnosis. Normal procedure would have been to see the results of the pathology report before doing anything. The pathology report said that the dead tissue was the patience liver. The liver was showing advanced stages of cancer but would have allowed the patient to live another four to six weeks. When the patient regained consciousness the doctor had to tell him that he had mistakenly removed his liver and that without it only had about eight hours to live. My friend offered him a bible and a phone to inform his family. He lost his medical licence, the hospital was sued and he was dealing blackjack with me for forty dollars tips a day and minimum wage.
There was nothing wrong with his training. There was nothing wrong with the hospital. He simply was not suited for the profession he had chosen. Every profession has people who are not suited to nor have the right temperament for that particular task. But if the chosen profession involves life and death situations mistakes and incompetence can be fatal.
Based on my experience I believe police departments in the world are basically the same. Nowhere in the world (not even in the United States) can you disrespect or disobey the police and escape the situation unharmed. You must obey and submit to any order given. At that moment in time you have no constitutional rights. The officer or policing agency becomes the judge,jury, and executioner. If you think otherwise, please revisit these videos. It is your duty to your family and to yourself to stabilize this situation and survive. Your rights will be applied later and in a court of law.
When a police officer is approaching you, turn your cell phone to video mode with volume on a high setting. Hopefully this will tape the incident and provide evidence of the event. Drive cameras may be purchased on Amazon. See if you can buy one that you can turn OFF and ON at your discretion. Do not tell the police that you are recording them. This will only antagonize the officer. Remember your civil rights only take effect once the officer is gone and the matter is presented before a court of law. Shooting at the police or destroying public property does not solve the problem. Gathering evidence and initiating lawsuits are most effective. These will hit cities where it hurts the most-in the wallet. When civilians win lawsuits, police departments and cities will find it more cost-effective to fire incompetent, ill-tempered, racist, and officers that are not suited to the profession they have chosen.
Interesting story. Like to hear more