I have not had much motivation to put thoughts to paper (as it were) for a while. After the disappointment of the elections, we had tragic happenings in the northwest and the northeast and I just got tired of discussing it. I finally had a discussion with my mother the other day where we discussed our viewpoints on those events and the current furor over firearms. In the end, while she recognized that I was able to back my opinion up with facts and that she was reacting more out of emotion than fact, we still ended up in the same place I was in my email exchange with Diane Fienstien several years ago, we had to agree to disagree.
Then I see big news reports about the massive manhunt in Los Angeles. Having just been there recently, I know what a massive undertaking that can be. I am interested in the amount of manpower being used to protect members of the force and their families. What interests me more is when that manpower, amped by the threat to their own, reacts poorly.
So far, three people in two different events, have had their vehicles destroyed by police gunfire (in one case) and both ramming by a patrol car and gunfire (in the other). In both cases, the truck did not match the suspect vehicle nor did the occupant match the suspect description. In the second case, the person had just finished being stopped by another patrol car (without gunfire or ramming) and been cleared.
We do not live in a third world or occupied nation. Our police forces all have procedures to follow, no matter what the threat. This behavior is as inexcusable as that perpetrated by the man they feared. I was willing to accept the fact that in NYC, on a crowded street, officers would wound 9 civilians while actively engaging a shooter who just murdered someone. This behaviour is much more like the farce that was the Jose Guerena shooting, and from the looks of it, I imagine it will be swept under the same rug.
