POLICE HAVE NEVER MADE ME FEEL SAFE!
I've been reading stories of police officers refusing to enforce laws or resigning because they're bitching that society doesn't love them enough. I wanted to share this thought I have.
Police officers are needed. I think police officers are valuable parts of society. The requires that someone jumps in front of the danger in the event that there is danger. To me, it seems they are overvaluing their roles.
Any time I've ever been around a cop, I've felt less safe than I did before they got there.
I've had a few instances with cops, and they weren't good. I never see cops when good things happen yet I'm supposed to equate "cop" with "good."
I've walked what I consider a pretty straight and narrow life with no instances where I've had to call the police or had police called on me.
Two particular instances I've had of all the cop experiences that I've had always stick out in my mind.
1) When I was a teenager, I had walked to the corner store from my house with my cousin, which was about a 5 minute walk. After walking out of the door leaving the store, this white blond female cop stops us. To this day, I have no idea why she stops us. She sits us down in the parking lot on a curb. Later another officer shows up, and this officer is a brunette white female cop. They ask our names and where we live. One of them, takes our finger prints and the other, shakes the bush behind us as if we had hidden something in the bush. After shaking the bush, the officer grabs and ruffles with our shirts as if something's gonna fall out. The officer also reaches behind us to lift up the back of our shirts. My shirt was long enough that I was sitting on it. I proceed to lift up a little so that she doesn't rip my shirt. She takes her hand to force me down while she's trying to rip my shirt from under me. I was sitting there scared that they might take me to jail over something I knew nothing about. They kept us there for about 10 minutes and let us go.
2) Someone in my community had called the police. The police apparently didn't get a clear enough address so according to them, the caller said they were in apartment 105. There are about 10 buildings in the apartment complex and everyone of them have an apartment 105. I lived in the apartment 105 in my building. I hear a loud banging on my door and I walk to the door wondering who could that possibly be because I'm not expecting anyone. I look out the window and I see figures of people but I can't tell who they are because they have flashlights shining into my window (when it's daylight outside) and all I can really see is the flashlight. Regardless, to proceed to open the door and it's 3 cops (2 men and 1 woman). As I'm opening the door, the woman cop shouts "LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS" and reached for her gun. Lucky for me, that gun never left the holster. I put my hands up but I was very hostile with them because I felt they approached me in such a hostile manner with no justification.
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When instances like that (or worse) happens, it's hard to have a favorable view of police. I'm supposed to appreciate armed cops that tend to approach me in hostile ways. I'm supposed to assume they have the best intentions when they assume everyone is a threat to them.
My point is that a cop never makes me feel safe.
My community makes me feel safe.
I feel safe in knowing that a neighbor will watch my house or my dog when I'm out of town.
I feel safe in knowing that we, in my community, look out for each when we have hurricanes and the power goes out. Everyone ensures that everyone has food and water and perhaps lend out their grills.
I feel safe in knowing that my neighbor would give me a ride to work if my car broke down.
I feel safe in knowing that my neighbors would monitor the community and tell me if something's off.
That's safety to me!
If a cop wants to make people feel safe, be apart of the community; stop bitching; or quit and cry me a fucking river!
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