Pubdate: Wed, 18 Aug 2004
Source: Prescott Journal, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2004 The Prescott Journal.
Contact:  http://www.prescottjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2230
Author: David Dickerson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

POLICE OFFICERS DESERVE OUR RESPECT, NOT OUR CRITICISM

I can't believe the kind of uproar I've heard in the past week about early 
backlash from a case in which a man died after being tasered by police in 
Kingston.

Before all the facts of the case were out there for the public, people were 
questioning the actions of the police and saying how tragic and unnecessary 
the death was.

The death was unnecessary - not due to the actions of the police but 
because of the large amounts of cocaine streaming through that victim's 
system which was, in fact, reported as the cause of his death. It was 
cocaine, not a taser, as many people first jumped to that conclusion.

For me, in that case, the people I felt bad for were the family of the man 
who over-dosed on cocaine and the officers who tasered the fighting suspect 
and were immediately made out to be the villains by those looking to 
chastise the police for their actions.

Anyone who has watched the show Cops or knows any officers personally know 
they are not looking for an altercation when they go out on the job 
because, like you and me, this is their job and they are doing their best 
at it and, like you and me, are just hoping to put in a good day at the office.

If someone resisting arrest attacks an officer, they are trained and 
equipped to handle it, like in this case these officers did. I thought 
about this incident and realized that if I'm an officer and if you take a 
run at me, I would have done what I could to take them down to protect my 
own safety. Whether it be by takedown or taser, it really doesn't matter.

I think a lot of people forget how important police officers are and how 
much of themselves and their personal well-being they put on the line, 
often for people who they don't even know.

You hear some people come down on the police about how they handle things, 
but often those are the same people who are the first to call police when 
something happens to them.

The respect for the police just doesn't seem to be what it used to be even 
ten years ago. As a young kid in elementary school, I was taught to show 
police officers respect and I try to still apply that today, although a lot 
of people tend not to have the same opinion, since this is a much touchy, 
feelier world of today where, no matter what is done, someone or some group 
is offended and ready to cause an uproar.

Whether it be OPP, local police, RCMP, CSIS, military police, transit 
police, CN police or any other position I didn't list, they are still 
people of the law putting their lives on the line to help protect society.
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