Another man down
Once again - fourth time in the past six months, sixth time, I believe, in the past 18 months to two years - a Miami area police officer has been gunned down.
And once again, another dumbarse is in jail on account of the shooting. This time, police believe the alleged shooter thought off-duty Miami PD Det. James Walker was an enemy who had participated in a gun theft from a friend of the shooter. Apparently the "enemy" drives a car nearly identical to the unmarked car Det. Walker was in. And so the alleged shooter opened fire on Walker's car. Wrong guy.
Even though Walker may not have been the intended target, for the world of me, I still don't get it.
You shouldn't shoot anyone, outside the realm of self defense, saving another person's life, or war, unless by "anyone" you mean a tasty, tasty animal. But you definitely don't shoot cops.
When I was a kid - which all kidding aside, wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme - you were taught to respect cops the way you respected the elderly and the clergy. If you wouldn't swear at or within earshot of a grandmotherly woman, you wouldn't shoot a cop. If you wouldn't shout "screw God" to a preacher, you wouldn't shoot a cop.
It was understood that disrespecting folks in those categories was taboo, just because, they're service people of the highest rank, people with thankless jobs, more thankless than that of your waiter or your letter carrier or your garbageman.
Somehow, I know we'll get at least one comment alluding to the notion that some cops are crooked or violent, or whatever, so somehow violence toward cops is to be expected.
But don't kid yourselves. Someone who shoots a cop isn't doing it 'cause they're pissed off about being frisked one time too many for no apparent reason or pulled over one time too many for no apparent reason. If those were good reasons, I'd have shot a half dozen or so cops over the past 19 years, since I've been driving.
No excuses. People who shoot cops intentionally do so because they lack respect for what good police do.
And people who shoot anyone "accidentally," do so because they simply lack respect for life. Sad upbringing and bummed out neighborhoods and being pulled over by that occasional jerky cop have nothing at all to do with it.
And once again, another dumbarse is in jail on account of the shooting. This time, police believe the alleged shooter thought off-duty Miami PD Det. James Walker was an enemy who had participated in a gun theft from a friend of the shooter. Apparently the "enemy" drives a car nearly identical to the unmarked car Det. Walker was in. And so the alleged shooter opened fire on Walker's car. Wrong guy.
Even though Walker may not have been the intended target, for the world of me, I still don't get it.
You shouldn't shoot anyone, outside the realm of self defense, saving another person's life, or war, unless by "anyone" you mean a tasty, tasty animal. But you definitely don't shoot cops.
When I was a kid - which all kidding aside, wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme - you were taught to respect cops the way you respected the elderly and the clergy. If you wouldn't swear at or within earshot of a grandmotherly woman, you wouldn't shoot a cop. If you wouldn't shout "screw God" to a preacher, you wouldn't shoot a cop.
It was understood that disrespecting folks in those categories was taboo, just because, they're service people of the highest rank, people with thankless jobs, more thankless than that of your waiter or your letter carrier or your garbageman.
Somehow, I know we'll get at least one comment alluding to the notion that some cops are crooked or violent, or whatever, so somehow violence toward cops is to be expected.
But don't kid yourselves. Someone who shoots a cop isn't doing it 'cause they're pissed off about being frisked one time too many for no apparent reason or pulled over one time too many for no apparent reason. If those were good reasons, I'd have shot a half dozen or so cops over the past 19 years, since I've been driving.
No excuses. People who shoot cops intentionally do so because they lack respect for what good police do.
And people who shoot anyone "accidentally," do so because they simply lack respect for life. Sad upbringing and bummed out neighborhoods and being pulled over by that occasional jerky cop have nothing at all to do with it.
Labels: bad decisions, cop killers, lack of respect
posted by James Burnett at
10:05 AM
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7 comments
