Getting Past 'Us vs. Them'

There have been some disturbing news articles concerning law enforcement over the past year. Several have involved despicable career criminals who murdered police officers in cold blood - these people have rightly been viewed with the contempt that they deserve.

There have been other contemptible acts as well, however.

#1 A police officer uses a Taser on a pregnant woman who refuses to sign a traffic ticket.

#2 A police officer fatally shoots a drunken man who refuses to exit his car, an act for which he is currently facing murder charges.

#3 In Maryland, a man who was simply walking home from a sports event and who attempted to comply with police is brutally beaten with nightsticks. Further, the department in question attempted to cover up the incident by blaming the student for the circumstances.

One thing that our society does not need is to continue or see worsened the Us vs. Them rift that frequently exists between the police and the populace. In some respects this rift is understandable because our citizenry is one that deeply prizes their independence and rights (although often failing to understand the responsibilities that naturally accompany those rights) and law enforcement is trained to force compliance (sometimes with a lack of common sense).

Most encounters between the populace and the police end politely and professionally because most cops are good cops and most people know better than to escalate a simple traffic stop into a life changing event. I'm not sure what the solution is, when a confrontation does develop but both extremes (a sullen, disobedient populace vs. police interested in winning confrontations above all) seem like dangerous ideas, where our freedom and the stability of our society are concerned.